Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir has asked his side to play “fearless cricket,” ahead of the opening game of the IPL 2013 season, against Delhi Daredevils at Eden Gardens. Knight Riders are the defending champions, having won the title in 2012 after several poor seasons.
“We’ve got the monkey off our back. Now is the time to go out there and play fearless cricket,” Gambhir said on the eve of the match. He said Knight Riders would not be affected by Brendon McCullum’s absence, after the New Zealand batsman suffered a hamstring problem, saying there was “a lot of quality in the dressing room”.
Gambhir also said his focus was on performing for his franchise and insisted the IPL was not just a comeback platform for the national side. He had been dropped for the first two Tests against Australia and then missed out on selection for the next two Tests due to an illness. “I don’t play for individuals but for a team called KKR,” Gambhir said. “I am a part of the team which is the defending champion. I don’t see IPL as my comeback platform.”
Daredevils team mentor TA Sekar was happy with the performances that Irfan Pathan and Yadav had shown in a few matches prior to the IPL. Yadav picked up a five-wicket haul against Odisha in a domestic T20 tournament recently, while Irfan also got his fitness back. “I think bowlers today are very intelligent and they know how to keep themselves fit,” Sekar said, adding that McCullum’s absence had leveled the playing field between the teams.
Delhi Daredevils’ coach Eric Simons was happy with the fitness of his bowlers ahead of the game against Knight Riders. “There are a few teams who are struggling with injuries,” Simons said. “But one of the positives is that they are coming from an injury lay-off and they all are fresh. Umesh Yadav bowled really well at the nets. Hopefully that`s something that would go in our favour.”
While admitting the absence of Kevin Pietersen and Jesse Ryder was disappointing, Simons said he was happy with the trade that brought in Ashish Nehra in place of New Zealand’s Ross Taylor.
“This year there`s a lot of innovation in the team selection,” Simons said. “We have more options, having learnt the lessons. We have traded well. We have got a lot of variations now.”
For much of IPL 2012, Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils were the form teams favoured to make it to the summit clash. Knight Riders got there and won it, putting the horrors of seasons past behind them. Daredevils always promised so much, but in 2012 they inexplicably left out top wicket-taker Morne Morkel from the knockout against Chennai Super Kings, a decision that contributed to their heavy defeat.
The pre-season build-up has been bad news for Daredevils, who have had to suffer high-profile pullouts. Kevin Pietersen will miss the entire tournament due to a knee injury sustained in New Zealand, while Jesse Ryder was set to fly to India before being assaulted in Christchurch. The franchise has just replaced him with the Australian batsman Ben Rohrer, but their troubles do not end there.
Virender Sehwag, who captained Daredevils last year, is also doubtful for the opening game with a back spasm. Morkel will miss at least the first game because he is in South Africa representing Titans in the final stages of their domestic T20 competition. Mahela Jayawardene, who took over as full-time captain, will have to deal with a depleted batting line-up.
Knight Riders don’t have a fully fit squad at their disposal either. Brendon McCullum is yet to join the squad in India, as he is recovering from a hamstring injury sustained during the England Tests. James Pattinson, the Australia fast bowler, is resting at home, as advised by Cricket Australia following the Test tour of India. Jacques Kallis is only just returning from injury and Gautam Gambhir, the captain, has just recovered from jaundice and insists he is fit to play from game one. On paper, Knight Riders look the stronger side and playing at home will give them an edge.
Kolkata Knight Riders squad
G Gambhir*, S Ladda, L Balaji, R Bhatia, MS Bisla, DB Das, BJ Haddin, Iqbal Abdulla, JH Kallis, B Lee, BB McCullum, R McLaren, EJG Morgan, SP Narine, YK Pathan, JL Pattinson, PJ Sangwan, SMSM Senanayake, Shami Ahmed, Shakib Al Hasan, LR Shukla, RN ten Doeschate, MK Tiwary
Delhi Daredevils squad
DPMD Jayawardene*, MC Juneja, AB Agarkar, GH Bodi, J Botha, U Chand, RH Dias, CM Gautam, KM Jadhav, S Kaul, BMAJ Mendis, M Morkel, S Nadeem, Y Nagar, SS Nayak, P Negi, A Nehra, NV Ojha†, IK Pathan, BJ Rohrer, AD Russell, V Sehwag, AS Singhvi, RE van der Merwe, Y Venugopal Rao, DA Warner, UT Yadav