Wrist spinners play a big role in T20: Kallis

The KKR head coach Jacques Kallis on Friday gave away little while fielding questions on the team composition and other aspects related to the game.

Kuldeep Yadav (left) with Robin Uthappa and Dinesh Karthik (right) during a training session.

Kolkata Knight Riders is keeping its options open ahead of its Indian Premier League opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Eden Gardens here on Sunday.

KKR head coach Jacques Kallis on Friday gave away little while fielding questions on the team composition and other aspects related to the game.

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Excerpts:

Combating RCB:

You want to start off the tournament well. RCB is a good side. A team that starts off well is the team which knows its players' roles and where they fit in and how they settle down. We have a good record against them and want to make sure we play some good cricket.

Mitchell Starc’s absence:

Unfortunately Mitchell Starc is injured, but we have got replacement in (Tom) Curran. We look forward to some exciting stuff from Tom. He should stand up and play a big role in absence of Mitchell.

Wrist spinners’ impact:

Wrist spinners play a big role in this format. A mystery bowl is slightly difficult to pick than the conventional players. We have got a couple (Kuldeep Yadav and Piyush Chawla), we are looking forward to some exciting time.

Karthik’s batting position:

It depends on the conditions, situations of the game. We will come up with different strategies for different situations and be flexible in our batting order. But at the moment, he would probably bat in the middle order.

On Shubman Gill:

He seems a good youngster. All our youngsters are pretty good. Hopefully, the young guys will learn a lot from the experience and become better players.

Bowling combination:

It depends on conditions. The teams are going to depend on what condition we play in and combinations we play on all types of wicket.

KKR starts as underdogs:

I think everybody starts as an underdog, everyone's a little bit nervous for the first game of the tournament.

Plans for Virat Kohli:

We got plans for all batsmen. One batsman doesn't make a team. When you fall into the trap of one batter then you are focussing on wrong things, you need to focus on all batsmen.

Last year KKR bowled out RCB for 49:

Again, we will have to assess the wicket closer to the game. I think it will be a good wicket. Hopefully it (the big-margin win) does happen again for us.