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We've finally got the X-factor: Ganguly
KKR skipper Sourav Ganguly said they have finally got the X-factor to put a competitive score on board.
- Press Trust of India
- Updated: March 28, 2010 03:52 PM IST
Read Time:3 min
Mohali:
"Good to get a win. To be honest, our batting dipped against Chennai and Rajasthan. As I said after losing to Mumbai, we finally have got the X-factor, an extra 10-15 runs," Ganguly said after the match.
Ganguly stressed on the importance of Indian players playing well and said he was happy to be among runs.
"I have been in decent form, a couple of good thirties, good to get a fifty today. We spend a lot of time deciding which overseas players to play, but as long as the seven Indian players do well, we will be in good shape," he said.
Asked about their semifinal hopes, Ganguly said it is still a long way to go and the tournament is wide open now.
"Anyone can come back in this format. Rajasthan have shown it by winning 3 in 3. We are going to play freely and hopefully keep winning. We still have six more home games and we will take match by match. Semis is still a long way ahead," Ganguly said.
Ganguly said it was crucial to get Yuvraj Singh early after the left-hander opened the innings for Kings XI Punjab.
"He (Yuvraj) could have proved dangerous if he had batted through the innings. It's good that we got him early. He is a dangerous batsman," he said.
His counterpart Kumar Sangakkara, meanwhile, blamed his team for putting themselves in such a position and said the batsman couldn't handle the pressure.
"I never got going, neither did Mahela, and left too much for the bottom half. We have ourselves to be blamed. Our bowlers did their job but we didn't handle the pressure well. 184 is chasable on this track. we didn't respond as well as we could have," Sangakkara said.
Asked how will this defeat affect his team's semifinal chances, Sangakkara said it is difficult but not impossible to reach the final four.
"We were trying to find the best positions for players to bat, but we are yet to find it. Only one way to go now - up. It is difficult but not impossible. We have seven-eight games still to play and we will look to win them," he said.
Man of the match Manoj Tiwary said this was one of his best knocks in the tournament.
"Today the wicket was very good to bat on, not much lateral movement. I took my time, to get my eye in and later accelerated. I wanted to do well and score big," he said.
Tiwary said taking that running catch in the boundary line to dismiss Yuvraj was very relaxing for him.
"I had to take that catch, Yuvi is such a good player, it felt good to take it and helped me relax," he said.
After snapping their three-game losing streak with a 39-run win over Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Sourav Ganguly said they have finally got the X-factor to put a competitive score on board."Good to get a win. To be honest, our batting dipped against Chennai and Rajasthan. As I said after losing to Mumbai, we finally have got the X-factor, an extra 10-15 runs," Ganguly said after the match.
Ganguly stressed on the importance of Indian players playing well and said he was happy to be among runs.
"I have been in decent form, a couple of good thirties, good to get a fifty today. We spend a lot of time deciding which overseas players to play, but as long as the seven Indian players do well, we will be in good shape," he said.
Asked about their semifinal hopes, Ganguly said it is still a long way to go and the tournament is wide open now.
"Anyone can come back in this format. Rajasthan have shown it by winning 3 in 3. We are going to play freely and hopefully keep winning. We still have six more home games and we will take match by match. Semis is still a long way ahead," Ganguly said.
Ganguly said it was crucial to get Yuvraj Singh early after the left-hander opened the innings for Kings XI Punjab.
"He (Yuvraj) could have proved dangerous if he had batted through the innings. It's good that we got him early. He is a dangerous batsman," he said.
His counterpart Kumar Sangakkara, meanwhile, blamed his team for putting themselves in such a position and said the batsman couldn't handle the pressure.
"I never got going, neither did Mahela, and left too much for the bottom half. We have ourselves to be blamed. Our bowlers did their job but we didn't handle the pressure well. 184 is chasable on this track. we didn't respond as well as we could have," Sangakkara said.
Asked how will this defeat affect his team's semifinal chances, Sangakkara said it is difficult but not impossible to reach the final four.
"We were trying to find the best positions for players to bat, but we are yet to find it. Only one way to go now - up. It is difficult but not impossible. We have seven-eight games still to play and we will look to win them," he said.
Man of the match Manoj Tiwary said this was one of his best knocks in the tournament.
"Today the wicket was very good to bat on, not much lateral movement. I took my time, to get my eye in and later accelerated. I wanted to do well and score big," he said.
Tiwary said taking that running catch in the boundary line to dismiss Yuvraj was very relaxing for him.
"I had to take that catch, Yuvi is such a good player, it felt good to take it and helped me relax," he said.
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