Need a winning momentum: Zaheer

› We haven’t been able to close out some close games. Our net run rate is good and a team has a good net run rate only when it is doing well. ZAHEER KHAN, Delhi Daredevils skipper

KOLKATA: Shah Rukh Khan spoke of “sattar minute (70 minutes)” in reel life that transformed a bunch of often squabbling girls into world champions.

On Thursday evening here, Delhi Daredevils’ skipper Zaheer Khan talked about how five games in the next nine days would shape the destiny of his side.

“We need to look at those games in a bunch,” said Khan.

At seven minutes and 43 seconds, the media interaction lasted around the time it would take Khan to bowl two overs against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) here on Friday.

REPETITIVE

If he can be this repetitive in landing deliveries where batsmen don’t want them, the turnaround for his team would have begun.

The questions where his answers didn’t have the ‘fivenine routine’ — even the pace ace confessed to repeating himself — were: when would Marlon Samuels join (April 29, said Khan), the Eden wicket, whether Mohammed Shami is fit and why KKR are this successful.

Asked why Delhi Dardevils haven’t really fired, Khan said: “We haven’t been able to close out some close games. Our net run rate is good and a team has a good net run rate only when it is doing well. We need a winning momentum.”

Delhi Daredevils will play KKR here on Friday, travel to Kings XI Punjab and host three games: against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Gujarat Lions and Mumbai Indians.

Khan didn’t agree that this team is full of good guys who don’t get under skin of their opponents enough. “The young potential we have is amazing and they need a little bit of confidence and that comes from winning,” he said.

KKR STABLE TEAM

Khan attributed KKR’s consistency to it being a stable team. “They have built the side over the past few years and in that time, won a few tournaments. That helps. Their plans look sorted. And in Gautam Gambir, they have a good leader,” he said.

SHAMI FIT

Khan also said Shami was fit and available but like with every team, one or more big names are sitting out as teams seek the right combination. It was a point Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody made when replying to why they weren’t giving Kane Williamson a game before they played KKR here.