The Twenty20 Indian Premier League tournament is proving to be quite a ruthless format. Ask Sourav Ganguly.
The Twenty20 Indian Premier League tournament is proving to be quite a ruthless format. Ask Sourav Ganguly.
Less than 10 days ago, Ganguly's men left Mumbai's shores in high spirits having upset defending champions Deccan Chargers in the opening game of the IPL III. But, the Knight Riders' returned to Sachin Tendulkar's city yesterday low in confidence and their minds riddled in self-doubt. The advantage of a fine start of two wins has been frittered away with two defeats in the third and fourth games.
|
|
KKR skipper Sourav Ganguly at
the CCI yesterday. |
Skipper Ganguly is surely under a lot of stress to lift his team in today's game against Mumbai Indians as the seasoned pro is well aware how difficult it is to arrest a slide once the tide turns against you.
It is learnt that the Kolkata captain was pretty low after his team's poor batting against Rajasthan Royals in Saturday's game. He had not recovered till yesterday morning because had they won, it would have been a completely different scenario coming into the Mumbai game. The momentum would have been with his team.
However, the importance of body language is not lost on the most successful captain in Indian cricket history.
And by afternoon, Ganguly had gathered himself. He was his usual, calm self during the evening practice session at the Brabourne Stadium. If he was down, he did not let it show as he took a hit in the nets and chatted with his teammates and Mumbai players. The hosts have won two of their three games but Ganguly doesn't see any psychological advantage here.
"Mumbai Indians are a good team but it was a close shave for them in the first game against Royals as they won by just four runs and they lost their last game," he said.
"In such a short duration game anything can happen. Every ball is important, an injury to your key player can change the equation dramatically," added Ganguly.
As for reasons for the poor performance in the last game, Ganguly plainly dismissed the query. He is not talking about the last match. He just wants to shut off the negatives completely.
