Deccan Chargers skipper Kumar Sangakkara wished for the success of his spinners after inspecting the Eden Gardens wicket.
The Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman, who led his country in the recent World Cup, felt the trend of using spinners early may be a good option as the wicket appeared helpful for the slow bowlers.
“It looks like a wicket lacking pace and bounce and may just help the slow bowlers. I think depending on the wicket, spin in the first few overs may just be a great option,” Sangakkara said.
Good spinners
“We have got a couple of good spinners in (Pragyan) Ojha and (Amit) Mishra. Even Jean-Paul Duminy can be handy with his off-spin,” said the Deccan Chargers captain.
When asked, the visiting skipper was not sure about a safe score.
“You never really know. Even 200 was scored and successfully chased in the last IPL,” he said.
Appearing for the home team Kolkata Knight Riders, South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis said that his side's loss in the first game, against Chennai Super Kings, is not a big setback as the tournament has just started and “everybody is getting to know each other.”
Drawing the positives from the loss, the South African star said, “We can learn a few things from the last game. I think our fielding let us down. It was one of those games that unfortunately got away from us. We lost it rather than Chennai winning it.”
While hinting that the team's captain, Gautam Gambhir, may be promoted up the batting order, the KKR coach Dav Whatmore sounded confident about getting a win at home.
“It (the wicket) looks pretty good. We have had practice on it for the last three weeks and the boys are now pretty familiar with it. We hope to get maximum points from the home games,” Whatmore said.
