New Delhi: Eyeing another IPL title after entering the play-offs, 2012 champions Kolkata Knight Riders are on a roll with a seven-match winning streak and bowling coach Wasim Akram has said that the purple brigade has all the “ammunition” to do it again.
“We are sure looking at the final. Top-four teams in the hunt and it could be anybody’s game. KKR is very confident unit but in T20 it is difficult to predict winners. But Kolkata have got the ammunition to win the title,” Akram, the Sultan of Swing, told PTI.
The Gautam Gambhir-led side were reeling at the bottom half after four losses early in the tournament but fortunes changed midway and it ended second behind table-toppers Kings XI Punjab after league stage. Akram attributed team’s turnaround to Gambhir’s smart leadership.
“It was a new team. We were trying to figure out the combinations. And here I must give credit to Gautam Gambhir for the kind of captain that he is. He is not defensive captain who tries to stop the runs or save the match. But he is a positive skipper who guns for the wickets and goes for a win,” said Akram.
If opener Robin Uthappa (613 runs in 14 matches) quietly took the orange cap away from Kings XI star Glenn Maxwell (533 runs in 13 matches) then spin ace Sunil Narine (20 wickets) has got the purple cap on his head.
“Uthappa and Narine have surely contributed to the teams good showing. I also have to put in a word of praise for Shakib Al Hasan. The Bangladesh all-rounder is a world class player and we are lucky to have such players in the side,” said a beaming Akram.
Going through an extended run of bad form, Yusuf Pathan exploded against Sunrisers Hyderabad with a 22-ball 72 and single-handedly took KKR to the second spot. (PTI)