The Kolkata Knight Riders fans are still hopeful to see their skipper, Sourav Ganguly in his hard hitting form. The team has lost three of the five matches played at this season’s IPL (Indian Premier League). Last year’s IPL saw the KKR finish off last having lost ten matches out of total fourteen played. In this season, Ganguly who is known for his power packed performance has not even completed 100 runs in total.
Ganguly’s fans are used to seeing him in an attacking form on the field with stupendous energy levels and a never-say-die spirit. But sadly, this year the Bengal Tiger is not up to the mark. Other batsmen covering up for Ganguly’s missed out form are Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey and Saurabh Tiwari. But the damage has already been done. What the team needs now is for Ganguly to adapt to the newest form of cricket as soon as possible as Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis and the others have done so. Other veterans like Anil Kumble and Adam Gilchrist who are much older and much more senior to Ganguly but have easily made the transition from test matches to one-day matches to the Twenty20 matches.
The Knight Riders have recently lost a match to the Mumbai Indians on 22nd March, 2010. This was the third loss in succession for the franchise. Ganguly did pull off a significant but tough catch to dismiss Saurabh Tiwary but it will take more to make an impact on the points table. “I think we were about 10 runs short,” said the losing captain after the match. “But 150-160 was a fighting total. We did not bowl well upfront, and that probably cost us the game.”
Sachin Tendulkar pulled off a stunning display of his finest batting and scored 71 runs from 48 balls. No need to guess, he was awarded the man of the match award. “It was a good wicket to bat on,” said Tendulkar. “I thought Shikhar batted well, and the first over set the tone. He played good shots and pierced the field pretty nicely. And then from the other end, I managed to hit some boundaries. “The ball was coming on beautifully. Overall it was a good game for us,” he further added.
Tendulkar was also in all praise of his fielders and bowlers and commented that they performed their best to yield them all another glorious victory. He also commented upon his own performance on field saying, “Initially I thought if I could hit some boundaries and put pressure on the bowlers, it would put them on the back-foot, and we managed to do that. From then on, it was just a matter of staying till the end and allowing the batsmen at the other end to play some big shots.”
On the other hand, Ganguly was looking off balance and completely cut off from the field. He looked nervous and failed to make a connection with the ball and the line and length of a delivery. His reflexes have slowed down and his batting tactics are not as impressive as they used to be. It may not be that he is not putting in his best effort. Maybe he is taking time to adjust to this new format of game. Whatever may be the case, from here on it looks like a downfall for the KKR.