Showing posts with label Gambhir. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gambhir. Show all posts

Thursday, May 5, 2011

I am all for UDRS: Gambhir

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni might have expressed his displeasure over the Umpire Decision Review System on quite a few occasions but Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir said that he is in favour of the use of technology as it can reduce human errors.

The UDRS, which received a mixed response during the World Cup, is not in use in the ongoing Indian Premier League, but Gambhir was of the view that if it was available there was no harm in using technology.

"These (UDRS) are part and parcel of the game. It is good to have UDRS when you don't get a plumb lbw. In tight games, if you have technology rather use it. I am all for UDRS," Gambhir said at the post-match press conference after KKR beat Deccan Chargers by 20 runs to zoom to the top of the team standings.

The KKR captain also lauded his teammates for putting up a professional performance against Deccan and hoped to carry on the winning momentum in the remaining matches of the Twenty20 tournament.

"I have always said that momentum is very important. When you have that momentum, you have to keep continuing to play well. It was a good overall performance. The batsmen scored 170 and the bowlers backed it up. I think it was good professional effort.

"We have to take each game at a time. The last six games are history now and we have to concentrate on the next game. As a professional cricketer, you have to keep thinking of each and every game and keep thinking as it is first game of the tournament," Gambhir said.

The left-hander also said that he was enjoying his stint as KKR captain.

"I always enjoyed my captaincy whether it is for India, whether it is for Delhi or this one. You end up taking responsibility, you end up learning a lot, you feel happy when you end up winning," Gambhir said.

"I always believed that there were never great captains and there will be no great captain. There are only great teams. No captain can win you the game. It is the team that wins the game. So far, I am enjoying my captaincy."

Gambhir also brushed aside any bad feeling between him and Deccan Chargers all-rounder Daniel Christian after the duo engaged in an altercation during the KKR innings on Tuesday.

"That's part and parcel of the game. When you are playing professional sport, it keeps happening. That's history now. If you are playing such competitive cricket, such things are bound to happen. It's fine, nothing too serious," he said.

Gambhir, who came in at the fall of Eoin Morgan's wicket in the sixth over, collided with Christian while going for single off the last delivery of the ninth over and no sooner had it happened, the duo engaged in a heated argument.

Both Gambhir and Christian came menacingly close to each other before Deccan skipper Kumar Sangakkara and the on-field umpires -- Sudhir Asnani and Rod Tucker -- intervened to separate the duo.

Friday, April 15, 2011

We dominated the entire game: Gambhir

Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir emphasised on the importance of clicking together as a team after his side's nine-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League.

The dashing left-hander smashed a 44-ball 75 but, instead of basking in glory, attributed the victory to team effort.

"I'd rather think about the team first than about myself. The team is winning and that's more important," Gambhir said when asked about the decision to let Manvinder Bisla open the innings instead of himself.

"Bisla's done well, he has given us two good starts in the last two matches. That's the team's strategy," he added.

"I have been hitting the ball well, except for the first match, when I batted at number six. Hopefully I can continue."

Kolkata beat Rajasthan black and blue and Gambhir was in agreement with that. "We dominated the entire game. We bowled, batted and fielded well," he said.

The left-hander is expecting bigger turnouts at the Eden Gardens, the team's home ground, for their upcoming matches.

"Hopefully we can continue the winning run and give them some happiness, because Kolkata is the city of joy," Gambhir said.

Rival captain Shane Warne was gracious in defeat but felt 160 was a par score.

"We weren't good enough today. It was about a par score. They played well in the first six overs. We were a little bit unlucky and inexperience at times hurt us, a couple of chances fell short. But that's part of the learning curve," Warne said.

"A couple of things didn't work out but we will take a lot of positives out of this game. We travel tomorrow to Eden Gardens and hopefully we can knock them over on their turf."

Friday, April 8, 2011

World Cup is history for me: Gambhir

CHENNAI: The world may think that the Gautam Gambhir-MS Dhoni bonding may stand in the way of the cut-throat rivalry in the IPL.

Even CSK coach Stephen Fleming feels that way. But not Gambhir. He is always known to be a fierce competitor and even on Thursday, after a gruelling batting session at the nets, Gambhir gave the impression that all the happy moments of the World Cup were history for him.

"First of all, it does not matter who inspires me," Gambhir said when asked if he took tips from Dhoni during the World Cup. "The whole of India inspires me. I play for my country, for the tricolour. What MS does is what he does. For me, it is important to concentrate on my game," Gambhir said.

"When I will play for KKR, my heart and soul will be with the team. I'm not too bothered who I'm taking on. It's just a game for me and I'm looking forward to the challenge," the former Delhi Daredevils skipper said. KKR have a poor track record in the IPL and it will be a huge task for Gambhir to lift the performance of the team. But he sounded pretty confident about the job at hand.

"Whatever has happened in the last three years is a thing of the past. We've a fresh team and it has world-class cricketers. They are capable of playing at the highest level and as a skipper my job is to get the best out of them," he added.

He hasn't picked up Bengali words as yet, but Gambhir knows how the crowd in Kolkata reacts to every KKR win. One got the impression that he feels the pulse of a passionate city when he said: "Kolkata is the City of Joy and my main aim is to make them joyous. Winning or losing is not always in our hands, but we can surely play good cricket."

Virender Sehwag said last year that franchises put too much pressure on players. Does he feel the same? "I don't think I have been pressurised by the management. We've a very good support staff and everyone has been supportive to all the players."

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

India thrash Pakistan in T20 warm-up match

LONDON: Rohit Sharma tore apart Pakistan's bowling attack with a 80-run blitzkrieg as India bulldozed their arch-rivals by nine wickets with three overs to spare in their final warm-up match of the ICC World Twenty20 on Wednesday night.

Chasing 159, Rohit and Gautam Gambhir (52 not out) raised 140 runs in just 16 overs for the opening stand to slam the door on Pakistan and India cruised to 159 for one in 17 overs to complete a facile win.

Rohit's was a sublime 53-ball knock, bejewelled with nine fours and two sixes. In contrast, Gambhir played the second fiddle to perfection and was unbeaten after a 47-ball knock that included five hits to the fence.

Earlier, Pakistan got off to a flier before suffering a mid-innings slump even though they eventually reached a competitive 158 for six, thanks to cameos from Ahmed Shehzad (25), Younis Khan (32), Misbah-ul Haq (37 not out) and Yasir Arafat (25 not out).

But with Gambhir getting his mojo back and Rohit continuing his purple patch, India's chase was off to a rollicking start and they never relaxed their grip.

Gambhir flicked the first ball from Umar Gul for a delectable four and ended the over in similar fashion.

Rohit, meanwhile, was not ready to be outshone.

Accordingly, Gul was hit over mid-on for a four, Yasir Arafat was dispatched in the stands for the first six of the match before copping two fours in his next over.

Shahid Afridi also found himself at the receiving end of Rohit's wrath when the batsman smote him over midwicket for a huge six.

Though Rohit eventually fell in the 16th over, by then it was just a matter of formality for India.

Earlier, Pakistan got off to a flier but India's disciplined bowling unit staged a remarkable comeback to restrict them to 158 for six.

Despite losing an early wicket, Pakistan cruised to 45 in just over four overs before losing three wickets without a single run added to the score.

After winning toss, Pakistan captain Younis Khan sent out teen twins Shahzaib Hasan (0) and Ahmed Shehzad (25) to open the innings but Hasan was back in the hut soon after Praveen Kumar's fifth legitimate delivery pegged back his off-stump.

Shehzad's too could have been a brief stay but Harbhajan Singh grassed a sitter at mid-wicket off RP Singh when the batsman was on five and India were made to pay for the clanger.

Shehzad shed all inhibitions and went after the Indian bowlers and suddenly it was raining boundaries at The Oval.

RP Singh copped two in the same over and Praveen didn't escape unscathed either as Shehzad pulled and drove with elan.

Shehzad's aggression proved contagious as Kamran Akmal (19) too started freeing his arms to good effect.

It was probably too good to last and Pakistan lost three wickets over five balls with Suresh Raina in the thick of action.

An airborne Raina first did a Jonty Rhodes to swoop on a ball and hit the stumps to remove Akmal and then placed himself under Shehzad's miscued skier in the same Ishant Sharma over.

Shahid Afridi's was a blink-and-miss stay as the swashbuckling right-hander bottom edged Irfan Pathan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni took a diving catch to remove him for a golden duck.

Shoaib Malik (14) started well before Pragyan Ojha snared the former captain in his first over and Pakistan were without their top half when the score reached 63.

Younis (32) and Misbah (37 not out) raised 50 runs in 7.3 overs but boundaries had dried up by then. Harbhajan got rid off Younis but Misbah and Arafat (25 not out) threw their bat at everything to push the score past the 150-mark.

http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4614646.cms