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Ganguly relieved

Principal Correspondent

KOLKATA: The two icon players who are leading sides which are struggling to find consistent form took time for some soul-searching after their IPL match at the Eden Gardens, which saw a thrilling finish on Thursday.

The host captain Sourav Ganguly, who won the Man-of-the-Match award while steering Knight Riders to a close win, was relieved to register a win after four successive defeats. “We needed a win desperately to stay in the competition. It feels nice that I could contribute in that,” said Ganguly.

Stay positive

The losing skipper Rahul Dravid was down but not broken. “We (Bangalore Royal Challengers) have made things difficult for us,” he said. “Now we have to hope some other team slips. But we have to be positive and turn the next game in our favour,” he added.

With the team getting a reshuffle at the management level, Dravid indulged in some introspection.

“There is that slight something missing for us. We are not getting the right breaks in the matches,” he said. “It is the question of execution, there are not many Twenty20 specialists around.”

When asked why Misbah-ul-Haq was not included in the side, Dravid said Cameron White was preferred for his hitting ability as the match was reduced to a 16-overs-a-side affair.

Having faced more reverses captaining in the new format of the game, Ganguly tried to downplay the win. “Twenty20 is a funny game. You have to very consistent to stay on course,” he said.

Ganguly said that the team’s fielding was a big reason for the win.

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