IPL 7: Never Seen Such an Innings, Unbelievable Hitting, Says Gautam Gambhir
Yusuf Pathan's knock drew high praise from Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir, who has himself played several match-winning knocks for KKR and India.
Having watched with awe Yusuf Pathan's fireworks that enabled his side finish second in the round robin stage of the Indian Premier League, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir on Saturday admitted he had not see such an innings before.
Pathan (72 of 22 balls) plundered seven massive sixes and five fours as he slammed the fastest IPL fifty to propel the Knight Riders to a four-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad with 34 balls to spare.
Replying to the visitors 160/7, the hosts needed to overhaul the total within 15.2 overs, but thanks to Pathan's blazing knock, they reached 161/6 in only 14.2 overs at the Eden Gardens.
"I have never seen this sort of innings in my career...unbelievable hitting... I can only dream of it, but I saw it in reality," Gambhir said after the match.
"We always wanted to finish it in 15.2 overs, this is what we play cricket for," said Gambhir, whose side will take on Kings XI Punjab in the first qualifier here May 27.
Gambhir, however, conceded that his team did not bowl well in the initial overs, besides dropping some crucial catches.
"But this is not the time to talk about negatives, I have never seen such an innings," he said.
Visibly happy after his batting performance, Pathan called it his best innings and said he had hit form at the right time.
"It feels great when the ball hits the middle of the bat and travels a long way."
"My hundred for Rajasthan was a good knock but I got run-out and we couldn't win the match, but this time we won, this feels like my best innings." (Also read: Yusuf Pathan, KKR's unstoppable force)