Kings XI Punjab star opener Hashim Amla says the team is disappointed with the position it is in, but is keen to make amends when it takes on the Rising Pune Supergiants here on Saturday.
In his pre-match interaction, Amla said that no team wants to be last and every team plays its cricket with a great amount of pride and passion. “We are keen to win the last game at least to leave on a happy note,” he added.
> Read: Rising Pune Supergiants v Kings XI Punjab preview
Refusing to comment on the last year’s performance of Kings XI Punjab when it also finished last, Amla says that he can only speak about the current edition. “I am sure there will be some positives you get,” he said.
“Yes, from a personal point of view I really enjoyed coming to this team. There has been a lot of enthusiasm over the last three weeks I spent with the team. So give credit to the players and everybody that has maintained that type of environment,” Amla remarked. “It is remarkable that the players kept up their enthusiasm and great spirit by maintaining that optimism,” he added.
Reflecting on the drubbing at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the last game, Amla said that chasing 200-plus in 15 overs was a difficult task for any team. “There have been a few teams which have met that fate against the RCB’s batting might,” he commented.
On Murali Vijay’s captaincy, the Kings XI opener felt he was very good, extremely positive.
Looking at the evolution of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, the South African opener felt the T-20 format gives scope for different types of players to succeed if they stick to the game plan.
“AB (de Villiers) is a mixture of power-hitting and the way he manipulates the fields with his strokeplay. And, that’s great for the cricket world. Its’ entertaining for everybody and also a great advertisement for the game,” Amla remarked.
On the challenge in switching over to different formats, Amla revealed that he takes a day or two to mentally adjust to the required format. “You tend to adapt to it a lot quicker than maybe in the past,” he commented.
On whether he was surprised by the Dhoni team's performance, Amla said in the IPL there was this trend of teams doing well and badly too.
“If you find your consistency early in the tournament and manage to maintain it, then you end up at the top of the log,” he said.
“I don’t focus much on oppositions, that’s no business to me, really. Whichever team I'm in, how we approach the game, the positivity that you bring to it, that’s the most important thing,” Amla said.
Eric Simons, bowling coach of the Pune outfit, acknowledged that there has been some exceptional batting in this tournament.
“We should have won one or two games where we should have defended. But, overall, it has been a growth curve and that is one positive to come from it, particularly the last game; very, very pleased with the way wickets fell,” he commented.
When asked whether leggie Adam Zampa should have been played earlier in the IPL, Simons said in hindsight it is easy to say so. “He is taking wickets in the middle overs, takes the sting out of the back end of the innings, that is important. But it is always about getting the balance right, and there have been some great cricketers sitting on the bench for a while,” he explained.
“If you look at the number of games that we should have won, the 195, chasing 137, there were easily three or four games that would have put us right in the mix and this game (vs KXIP tomorrow) becomes qualifying,” Simons remarked. “Another statistic that is very interesting is that we are second bottom of the table with a positive net run rate. That shows we have competed right through,” he pointed out.
On Ravichandran Ashwin not being among the wickets, Simons said that the star bowler himself is frustrated with his performance so far. “But, sometimes you have to play a role within your team and sometimes, somebody runs up and bowls a tight line, restricting the opposition and giving somebody else wickets. It is very much about operating as a unit rather than as an individual. He is a quality performer, he knows what he is about and what he needs to do,” Simons remarked.
Comments
SHARE