Kolkata Knight Riders plan to unleash Ajantha Mendis to accompany regular spinner Murali Karthik on a slow Eden Gardens wicket against Deccan Chargers today.
Kolkata Knight Riders plan to unleash Ajantha Mendis to accompany regular spinner Murali Karthik on a slow Eden Gardens wicket against Deccan Chargers today.
"We are thinking of playing two spinners, but will take a final call after the team meeting before the match," KKR skipper Sourav Ganguly told MiD DAY yesterday.
Coach Dav Whatmore, without giving much away, said, "Ajantha will be considered."
In this edition of the IPL, KKR won their first two matches only to lose four of the next five and are now in danger of elimination.
Bowling has been an area of major concern for the Knight Riders.
To address this problem, bowling coach Wasim Akram had a 40-minute session with the team's frontline seamersu00a0-- Ajit Agarkar, Charles Langeveldt, Ashoke Dinda, Ishant Sharma and Eklakh Ahmed and the agenda was bowling in the block hole.
Akram rolled back the years and provided quality practice to Sourav Ganguly, David Hussey, Manoj Tiwari and Chris Gayle, all of whom struggled against the maestro. Bowling from a short run-up, the pace and rhythm were as effervescent as his animated appeals. He beat Hussey six times in as many deliveries.
Meanwhile, the overall mood in the Kolkata Knight Riders camp was not great. It is learnt that co-owner Shah Rukh Khan is unhappy with the team's efforts. None of the players spoke about SRK's ire but their body language gave everything away.
"Time for excuses is over. Either we play better or keep being deserving losers," Shah Rukh had said on Twitter after KKR's loss to Delhi on Monday.
Talking about his team's approach, Whatmore said: "We will be as positive as we can. Certainly, we hope to have a good start and build on that."
