It was disappointing to lose our first game, but even in the past we have been slow starters. There's no reason at all to get downcast about this, especially as things can change quickly in this format. When you start any event, especially one as long as this, you want to get a win under your belt, but that did not happen for us.
The wicket at the Eden Gardens was on the slow side and perhaps we went too hard at the bowling early on. We've all discussed the importance of making the fielding restrictions in the first six overs count, so perhaps that eagerness got the better of us.
No luck
Also, three of the wickets that fell were to batsmen playing a stroke and dragging the ball onto the stumps.
I'm not making excuses, but on another day, if luck had been on our side, the ball could have missed the stumps and run away to the boundary. We were short on runs, and even as well as Kolkata bowled, 135 was a below-par score.
When KKR chased, they did not give up wickets upfront and this basically settled the game in their favour.
When you're defending a small total you need the early breakthroughs, and we couldn't get them.
Not a good day
We also missed a run out, so in that sense it was not a good day in all the three departments of the game.
Punjab have also lost their first match, and this makes Tuesday's game a sort of must-win situation for both teams.
In this competition you need to get the momentum going, and the only way to do that is to win matches.
It's our first home game of this IPL season and we have to pull up our socks. Our fans in Bangalore are looking forward to seeing us succeed, and we will be looking to turn things around and get some points on the board.
With back-to-back matches and a bit of travel thrown in, all the players are physically tuned to play. It's more a question of managing the mental make-up of the unit.
When we take the field at home, we'll be looking to be positive about what we need to do. An attacking mindset where you're looking to cash in on any opportunity that comes your way is just what is needed in the shortest version of the game.
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