KKR start afresh against RCB in new era
KOLKATA: It is a sign of how much teams have changed in IPL 11 that Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are talking of a strong bowling unit and that Gautam Gambhir and Chris Gayle won’t be at Eden Gardens when Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) host them on Sunday.
For seven seasons, they were synonymous with their franchises; Gambhir turning KKR around in the way that looked impossible after the first three seasons and Gayle whipping up storms for RCB as regularly as nor’westers hit the city at this time of the year. It did on Saturday too, the blustery conditions curtailing teams’ training plans.
With an eye on the future, both teams changed the old order. “He (Chris) did a great job for RCB but the team dynamic for next three years was taken into consideration before making this decision. We thought infusing new people in the team would give us the balance we require and strengthen areas we wanted to,” said RCB skipper Virat Kohli. RCB, Kohli said, are now looking to being a unit and not rely on one or two.
So, they bought Colin de Grandhomme, Chris Woakes, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Umesh Yadav. Kohli said being dismissed for 49 here last term was something they put behind that night itself but in poaching the KKR quartet who did them may be a pointer to how much that April night influenced RCB’s recalibration. “You could be pleasantly surprised to see our bowling dominate this IPL,” said Kohli.
KKR too opted for change with an eye on the next three years. “This is a fresh start for all of us. As captain, I will have to be calm. A good takeaway for that is the innings in Colombo (for India where he scored 29 off eight balls),” said KKR’s new skipper Dinesh Karthik.
It was the moisture in the wicket that perhaps contributed to RCB’s capitulation and given that rain is also forecast on Sunday, who knows how what both
captains said was a good wicket would behave?
KOHLI TO BAT AT NO. 3
With the presence of specialists openers in Brendon McCullum, Quinton de Kock, Parthiv Patel, Mandeep Singh and Manan Vohra, Kohli said he would bat at No. 3.