It looks like another big test for Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Eden Gardens. Having slumped to a narrow six-run defeat to Kochi Tuskers Kerala on Wednesday, the home team will try to return to winning ways as IPL-IV gathers momentum.
Yet, KKR will have every reason to be wary of two factors: Zaheer Khan, India's spearhead in its successful ICC World Cup campaign, and Chris Gayle, provided the big-built West Indian gets the nod to play.
KKR has done well everytime the top order has fired. The early dismissal of Jacques Kallis spelt doom, at least in the last game, as the team missed his solidity and run-scoring ability. His partner for five matches now, wicketkeeper Manvinder Bisla, has been very ordinary behind the stumps and has only one substantial score as a batsman.
Having a class batsman and wicketkeeper like Brad Haddin in its ranks, KKR may be tempted to bring the Aussie in to bolster the batting at the expense of Eoin Morgan, though the team coach has a very high opinion of the latter.
RCB has a solid batting line-up which will only get stronger by the presence of Gayle, who, on his day, can smash any attack. When asked, coach Ray Jennings hinted that the big West Indian was being considered for the game.
“He (Gayle) has got a chance to re-enter the IPL through the Bangalore franchise, he is a wonderful player. We will be trying hard to get him out,” said KKR coach Dav Whatmore.
“It is never a nice feeling when you lose. But there is always a reason why things happen. I always try to look for positives. Situations like this give you a really good opportunity to analyse, examine and reassess in an effort to try and get things as correctly as possible,” Whatmore explained. “We won three games but we lost two and we are keen to bounce back.”
On Yusuf Pathan's availability, the coach said the player's injury was still being assessed. “We will see him tomorrow morning. We are hopeful. He is pretty keen to play,” he said.
The RCB coach opined that his team's fielding was a concern. “We could have won the last two or three games if we had fielded properly,” he said.
Zaheer, who was present at the pre-match media brief, said: “We all know that a few games have not gone our way. But we are confident; we have worked hard in the nets. Once you get the momentum, it is about capitalising on that.”
He said everyone in the team wanted to get into the winning run as soon as possible.
“I feel the table is open. You have seen big teams getting beaten by sides that we never thought of… KKR lost its last game which is going to be an advantage for us. If we beat it tomorrow it will be really good for us to go forward,” he said.
