The CEO of Kolkata Knight Riders, Venky Mysore, threw its weight behind the team despite its stuttering campaign this season, calling it a “resilient” unit and urging players to draw inspiration from the dramatic reversal of the team in the 2014 winner of the title under Gautam Gambir. The reigning champions fell to their fifth defeat in eight matches on Sunday, down 39 points at the Gujarat Titans in Eden Gardens. With only six points on the board, KKR is now faced with a difficult task in their attempt to reach the playoffs, needing to win at least five of their six remaining games to stay in the running.
“It’s a very resilient team, the Knight Riders. It’s our 18th season, we have always been in the first three,” Mysore said during a promotional event here.
He recalled their campaigns in 2014 and 2021 when they rebounded, winning the title and reaching the final respectively.
“There are two cases that come to my mind that I always share with new people who enter the configuration …
“In 2014, halfway through, we only won two and lost five, but you know what happened in 2014, we set a record for IPL and won nine games on the trot and won the IPL.
“After that, we played the Champions League, and we won five in a row. So there is a record of 14 consecutive victories. It was not a flash in the PAN. In 2021, we had two victories again and five defeats, we continued to play the final.
“So everything can happen in this format. There are still a lot of games and it is a question of someone who shows this inspiration to make us cross the line. The inspiration can come from anywhere.” MySore has urged fans and criticisms not to be taken too much in the league painting, stressing that the unpredictability of the IPL often offers unexpected reversals.
“Sometimes you are caught up in IPL, we see the table, victories and losses … So you put things in perspective – there is a life far beyond the table, victories and losses – and you can take inspiration from anywhere. The kind of experience we have, certainly something can illuminate.” The franchise brought back his former assistant coach Abhishek Nayar in the fold. Nayar, who had briefly separated from KKR to join the assistant coach of India, returned one day after the news announced that his contract with the BCCI was terminated.
The time of Nayar’s return could not have been more crucial, because the team strikers undergo a difficult phase and they would seek to regroup and reset.
Aside from skipper Ajinkya Rahane, who showed a regular form but was unable to wear the team over the line, the rest of the range of strikers failed under pressure.
Rahane expressed his joy on the return from Nayar, describing him as an invaluable part of the KKR ecosystem.
“It is good to have Abhishek in the configuration. He was an important member of the team. As players, for me, we are all really happy to see him again.
“He is really passionate, he knows each player. His role in this team is really important, so we are all really happy,” said Rahane.
(With the exception of the title, this story has not been published by NDTV staff and is published from a unionized flow.)
Subjects mentioned in this article
