‘If we handle pressure, we will be among top teams’
After tight win over KKR, Kings captain Rahul urges his team to remain calm in playoffs race
DUBAI: Punjab Kings skipper KL Rahul says his team can make the IPL playoffs consistently if it learns to handle pressure better and not lose games from commanding positions.
Punjab Kings, who tend to snatch defeat from jaws of victory, beat Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets here on Friday to keep their playoff hopes alive.
“I’ll take the two points,” said Rahul at the post-match presentation when asked about his side being part of another tense finish.
KKR made 165 for seven and Punjab got home with three balls to spare. “We played it smartly. Realised it was a decent wicket and can’t experiment too much. We went slightly defensive with the ball. There wasn’t much spin and wanted to make the batters hit to the bigger side.
“With the bat also we’ve given clear roles to the players. Obviously we want to finish games. The win will give us confidence and hopefully we’ll build on it,” said Rahul who scored a match-winning 67.
The skipper praised Shahrukh Khan who finished the game for Punjab.
“Shahrukh has been batting brilliantly in the nets. Saw how strong he is in the first phase. He’s asking a lot of questions and wanting to finish games. Today he played proper cricket shots, got a few boundaries and we all know he can hit the ball a long way. He can finish games, has done it for Tamil Nadu.”
Asked about the team’s playoff chances, he added: “Often we’ve put too much pressure on ourselves. Everybody knows we are a far better team. Putting too much pressure on ourselves is not helping. Every game we’ve fought till the end. If we can handle pressure, we will be among the top teams,” he added.
KKR skipper Eoin Morgan said fielding let his team down.
“Initially we didn’t field that well, we put catches down, myself early and other guys. It has cost us. When the game gets that tight towards the end, extra few wickets down would have helped us. Equally I thought we fought hard, batted really well and probably had a par score,” he said.
KKR coach Brendon McCullum conceded that Punjab Kings deserved to win as it “seized the key moments” during the game.
“I thought we played another good game of cricket tonight (but) Punjab Kings deserved the win because they seized the key moments but we certainly played a hand and we really got a good game of cricket,” McCullum said at the press conference after the match.
Morgan has not been among the runs, and the former New Zealand stumper expects some runs from the England captain.
“Obviously, he (Morgan) is one of our senior players, he is one of our international batsmen and as captain as well in his own, he would love to contribute a lot more runs, actually he captains the side very well tactically, but look you want some more runs from (him), no doubt in that,” McCullum added.
“You need runs from your overseas players and you particularly need in those key spots as well. I am confident that he will come up (alright),” he said, adding that senior Bangladeshi allrounder Shakib-AL-Hasan is in the mix for selection.
McCullum also admitted that without sans Andre Russell, it was difficult to balance the side. “In terms of the balance, when you take out a world-class allrounder like Andre Russell, it is always difficult to balance your side,” he added.
Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 165/7 in 20 overs (V Iyer 67, R Tripathi 34; A Singh 3/32, R Bishnoi 2/22) lost to Punjab Kings 168/5 in 19.3 overs
(KL Rahul 67, M Agarwal 40; V Chakravarthy 2/24) by five wickets.