Kolkata Knight Riders, back in the IPL knockouts after two seasons, will play Royal Challengers Bangalore in a playoff match in Sharjah on Monday. The losing side will be eliminated from IPL 2021 while the winners will play Delhi Capitals for a spot in the final on October 15. KKR skipper Eoin Morgan said his team has done well in UAE and it will be no easy task to beat an in-form team like RCB which has never won an IPL trophy. KKR are past champions.
(Video courtesy: KKR; Images: BCCI)
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(Video courtesy: KKR; Images: BCCI)
Follow this story and more: https://www.outlookindia.com/
#Sports #OutlookMagazine #OutlookGroup
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Mark, first of all, making it to the playoffs, you set out to make it to the playoffs.
00:21 How would you say the journey for the UAE leg has been for the team?
00:25 Yeah, it's been brilliant.
00:28 It's been a fantastic turnaround, I would say, in results.
00:34 Performances have been consistently good.
00:36 And I think certainly the mood within the camp is quite confident.
00:39 So we're looking forward to tomorrow's game immensely.
00:44 It's another opportunity to try and progress things further.
00:46 So, yeah.
00:48 RCP in the recent times, after the defeat to KKR in the first game of this leg, has
00:55 had great success.
00:56 How do you look at RCP as an opposition?
00:59 Yeah, they're a good side.
01:02 Like every other team in the tournament, on paper, they're very strong.
01:07 So yeah, it's going to be a challenge come tomorrow.
01:13 They have a strong batting lineup in Virat, Maxwell and AB de Villiers.
01:17 And Maxwell has had quite a bit of success in the recent times.
01:21 How do you look at that middle order of RCP?
01:24 Yeah, like you said, it's very strong.
01:26 They have some big name players.
01:30 So yeah, it's very strong.
01:32 When it comes to KKR's own batting lineup, which has done wonders in this leg of the
01:37 tournament, what did you think really worked for the KKR batting?
01:42 I think there have been a few things that have worked for us throughout this tournament.
01:46 I think, obviously, at the top of the order, our top three batsmen have been in fine form.
01:52 And given the challenges across the three different venues, I think we've adapted really
01:57 well throughout the tournament.
01:59 And I think it's one thing that we're going to have to do tomorrow as well.
02:01 Sharjah, the team has done well.
02:03 Do you think that will be an advantage when you start off against RCP, that you have understood
02:09 the conditions a lot more?
02:11 Yeah, RCP have played at Sharjah as well.
02:13 They know the conditions inside out.
02:15 I think most people have watched and actually been a little bit surprised at how the wickets
02:20 have played at Sharjah.
02:22 But it's been a challenge within a challenge.
02:26 And certainly our guys have adapted well, given the opportunity to do so.
02:31 So I'm hoping that's the same.
02:33 Do you think the KKR spin twin of Varun Chakravarti and Sunil Narayan are the best in the tournament?
02:42 Here I think they're two very, very good bowlers.
02:47 I think there's a lot of talent in the IPL and different teams.
02:50 But certainly when it comes to those two mystery spinners, I think they offer a lot.
02:55 When it comes to the middle over batting, what is the role that Nitish Rana and Rahul
03:03 Tripathi are playing for the team?
03:06 I think it's pretty evident if anybody watches the games.
03:10 You see them come out and play a positive role within that period.
03:15 Both of them have done an incredible job throughout the tournament so far.
03:20 And hopefully that will continue for us.
03:22 Lockie Ferguson Sloan, what do you make of it?
03:25 Lockie has been in fine form throughout the whole year, never mind just the last three
03:31 weeks.
03:32 He's obviously a big impact bowler who takes on a lot of responsibility as an overseas
03:38 player and a guy who's great to have around.
03:41 When it comes to DK, the death over burst, apparently the stats say that since IPL 2020,
03:49 he has been one of the most successful in terms of strike rate in the death overs.
03:54 How crucial is DK in the death overs?
03:58 I think if you have any batsman that comes in and strikes the ball like he does at such
04:03 an important part of the game, it gives you two things.
04:07 It obviously gives you runs on the board at a very quick strike rate and it gives you
04:13 momentum into either chasing a total or setting a total.
04:17 Finally, about Sunil Narayan, Sunil has kind of reinvented himself.
04:24 How deadly is he right now?
04:26 Sunil is bowling well.
04:29 He's obviously a big part of a huge effort in our bowling unit.
04:36 We have a lot of guys that do different things within our bowling unit and Sunil obviously
04:42 leads that.
04:43 One thing about Shaki Balasan, Shaki Balasan has spoken, I mean a lot of people from Bangladesh
04:49 are asking this question whether he's available to play for KKR and how crucial is his role
04:55 in the team?
04:56 Shaki Balasan, it's great to have him with us.
04:59 I know a lot of teams are assembling throughout the UAE in preparation for their World Cup.
05:05 England is one of them.
05:07 So not only myself but Shaki, we're lucky to be able to get good match practice in before
05:13 the start of the World Cup.
05:14 Finally, Andre Russell, everybody is asking whether he'll be fit in time for the playoffs.
05:20 How do you look at his fitness?
05:24 That's a good question.
05:25 I think after training today we will see how Andre has progressed as we've looked at his
05:30 progression on a daily basis.
05:32 We will then speak to the medical staff and probably sleep on it overnight and see how
05:37 we go tomorrow.
05:38 For more information visit www.fema.gov/covid19
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