Knight Riders skipper blames his batsmen after losing to Royals
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Gautam Gambhir blamed the batsmen for his team’s poor show against Rajasthan Royals on Monday.
“I am very disappointed with the loss. The target was always chaseable. It was a very good wicket to bat on. I feel our bowlers did a fantastic job by restricting the hosts to 144 but we batted poorly,” said Gambhir after his team’s 19-run loss.
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KKR’s all-rounder Jacques Kallis got a first ball duck against RR on Monday. File Pic/AFP
“I feel they (batsmen) played some bad shots. It was a good wicket to bat on and the outfield was also very fast. We also failed to build good partnerships. We have to learn from these mistakes. We had worked hard to become champions in the previous edition. But, we did not play like champions today,” Gambhir added.
Batting first, RR scored 144 for six in 20 overs. In reply, KKR were bowled out for 125 in 19 overs.
The KKR skipper stressed that he always encourages positive cricket. “I always tell them to be positive and play fearless, but smart cricket,” he said.
Dravid fined
Meanwhile, RR skipper Rahul Dravid was fined $20,000 for a slow over-rate They were two overs shy of the required rate even after allowances were taken into consideration.
Since it was his first offence of the season, Dravid was fined only $20,000. For the second offence, he could lose $40,000 while the third would lead to a fine of $50,000 and a one-match ban.u00a0