Twitter
Advertisement

IPL 8: We will be desperately hoping for rain, says KKR mentor Jacques Kallis

All the 'rain dance' that Kolkata Knight Riders did on Saturday night, if one is to go by their mentor and South African great Jacques Kallis, may have just gone waste. For, the only way KKR had a chance of qualifying for the playoffs for the skies to open up in Hyderabad, washing out the Sunrisers Hyderabad v/s Mumbai Indians on Sunday night.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

All the 'rain dance' that Kolkata Knight Riders did on Saturday night, if one is to go by their mentor and South African great Jacques Kallis, may have just gone waste. For, the only way KKR had a chance of qualifying for the playoffs for the skies to open up in Hyderabad, washing out the Sunrisers Hyderabad v/s Mumbai Indians on Sunday night.

Though the hourly forecast for Sunday evening in Hyderabad says “mostly cloudy” for the duration of the game, it is unlikely that the last league game, match #56, will be abandoned with the teams sharing a point each. But then, one can never be sure with the weather forecast.

“We will be doing a rain dance. All of us will be doing a rain dance while we won't be doing too much sleep. We need rain in Hyderabad. Only if it rains in Hyderabad do we go through, apparently. So we will be doing a rain dance,” Kolkata Knight Riders mentor Kallis said laughingly on Saturday night following his team's nine-run loss to Rajasthan Royals at the Brabourne Stadium.

KKR finished the league phase with 15 points. Should the SRH vs MI game end in a washout, the three teams will be on 15 points with KKR's net run rate of +0.253 looking better than SRH's -0.033 and MI's -0.259. However, Kallis's was just wishful thinking.

Talking of reality, Kallis admitted that his team were inconsistent this season. “We haven't won enough away games. Our performances were up and down. Last season, we were pretty consistent. Whatever the reason is, we can sit down and try to work out. It has been a little disappointing, either we have been very good or very poor, nothing in the middle.”

KKR lost five of their away games, something that is not associated with defending champions. Facing a must-win situation against Rajasthan Royals, KKR fell short by nine runs. Though the margin was close, KKR were trailing RR the entire game except for two overs. Kallis believed that he had the team to win the last league game on batting-friendly Brabourne pitch.

“You have got to pick the side that you think is best for the conditions. And obviously they gave us a seamer-friendly pitch than spin-friendly. But still the players that still came in were more than good enough and capable of producing the goods for us to win, and that is the disappointing part. It boils down to us not taking the chances in previous games. There was a game in Chennai that we should not have lost (KKR lost by two runs), and the last game against Mumbai (they lost by five runs). We put ourselves in pressure today and unfortunately Watto (Shane Watson) came and played a world-class century to put us under pressure,” the 39-year-old Kallis said.

Kallis also said that West Indian slow bowler Sunil Narine, who did not figure in the XI on Saturday, was not at his best. “It (leaving ou Narine) was a tough selection. Whether you play an extra spinner on this wicket that is probably going to turn... To be fair, Sunny has not probably been the same bowler this season being under the spotlight that he was last season. He is working hard on his action. I think he will become the bowler that he was but it will take time. He probably was not as effective as he was last season. It is a tough call with so many good players in the squad and you are allowed to select only four overseas players,” he said.

KKR surprised everyone by playing 40-year-old former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood for the all-important game. Mahmood, who has since become an England citizen, last played a T20 in August 2014. He had a forgettable outing, going for 41 runs in his three overs without any success and made only six at No. 8 before skying James Faulkner into Ajinkya Rahane's hands at long-on.

Kallis, though, supported his selection. “Yeah, it was a tough call. We looked at some extra grass on the wicket and it looked like it would help the seamers a little bit more. Including him (Azhar) gave us the extra seaming option as well as a help in batting. It ended up being a really good wicket,” Kallis said.

Kallis admitted that his team gave away extra runs that made it tough in the end. “We felt (we were in the chase) right down till the last over. Even 16 off the last over, had Shakib middled that and went for 6, you suddenly needed 10 off 5. All you needed was an inside edge for four and the game was over. We always felt we were in the game in the run chase, and you needed a few things to go your way. But they did not go our way. We probably gave away a few runs and that was indiscipline.”

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement