With just a week left before the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) gets underway, the nature of the Eden Garden pitch would have infuriated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Gautam Gambir. The two-time IPL champions have traditionally thrived on turning and slow pitches and seeing a lush green pitch was enough to create a lot of chaos among the KKR camp. However, Gambhir is not worried about the pitch at all and is ready to accept the challenge.
The Kolkata-based franchise has bought two world-class seamers in the form of Trent Boult and Chris Woakes and Gambhir is confident that they can do the work for their team on ‘bouncy green wicket’.
“Character of the wickets in all the grounds in India is getting changed. So, in a similar fashion, the character of Eden gardens wicket is also changing. That is the reason our focus was to recruit fast bowlers like (Trent) Bolt, (Chris) Woakes in the auction and we have done that. In the matches also, these fast bowlers will be tried more on the bouncy green wicket,” said the India opener who has started his preparation for the tenth edition of the tournament on Tuesday (March 28).
The southpaw also admitted that his team would miss the services of West Indies star Andre Russell who has been banned for a year for violating the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) whereabouts clause. But at the same time, the KKR star asked everyone to keep a keen eye on Russell’s compatriot Rovman Powell.
“We will miss Andre Russell this season, no doubt. Russell had a great contribution to several victories of KKR in the past. But at the same time, I am requesting you guys to keep eyes on another young West Indian lad. His name is Rovman Powell. He is only 23-years-old. He is an all-rounder, can bat in the middle order as well as he can bowl fast. I was really thrilled to have watched his batting and bowling video. I believe Powell has the ability to fulfil the absence of Russell.”
He also backed Sunil Narine to regain his ‘match-winning’ touch soon. The West Indies mystery spinner had played an integral part in KKR’s victorious campaigns in 2012 and 2014. However, he has failed to regain his best form ever since remodelling his bowling action.
“Sunil is coming back. I am hopeful that he will again regain his match-winning touch. He is no doubt a match winner. But at the same time he needs time to settle down and get support from other bowlers,” said Gambhir.
KKR will begin their campaign against Gujarat Lions on April 7.