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[caption id="attachment_42902" align="aligncenter" width="580"] KKR will face Rising Pune Supergiant in an IPL encounter on Wednesday. Image Source: XtraTime[/caption] Internet Desk: Gautam Gambhir has to be one of the few inspirational captains in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Knight Riders captain is never shy of a challenge and enjoys leading his team from the front. On Sunday during the game against RCB, the left hander has given enough evidence about his positive intent. The thrilling win against Virat Kohli’s RCB is past for the KKR captain. “I think that’s history. The important thing is we need to start off really well. This is the second half of the competition and obviously you want to play as well as you can. We did well to finish the first half. But what is important is to do well in the second half which starts from tomorrow. We still have seven more matches to go,” said Gambhir ahead of his team’s crucial tie against Rising Pune Supergiant. The KKR captain’s biggest challenge will be to maintain the intensity with which his teammates played, defending a low total against RCB at the Eden Gardens. According to Gambhir, “It’s difficult to set the trend but it is even more difficult to maintain it. We have set the intensity and now the biggest challenge will be to carry it forward. We have set the bench mark and now it is up to us to keep that standard. That is what I expect from myself and my team.” Talking about his opponents tomorrow, the Rising Pune Supergiant will be a confident team after their thrilling win over the table toppers Mumbai Indians. What is more worrying for Gambhir is that this RPS side is not dependent on any particular individual. Steve Smith’s side has been playing like a team with contributions from everyone so far. Gambhir too admitted, “Apparently it is a great sign for any team when everyone contributes for the team.  We don’t want to be dependent on one or two guy. We want to be dependent on everyone. There will be times when an individual will pick a couple of important wickets or score a quick 20 off 10 balls. There will be guys who will score consistently but the important thing is you need contribution from everyone in the team. And that is where Pune looks dangerous.” Talking about the scheduling of the tournament, the KKR captain has no complaints. “It’s a tough schedule. Immediately after returning back to Kolkata we play a match at 4pm the next day. And then we travel again and play at match on the 30th again. But then you can’t keep complaining about. This is the schedule and we as professional cricketers have to cope up with all these. It really depends upon an individual as to how he copes up with the challenges and prepares himself.” On being asked whether any team can be taken lightly in this format, Gambhir said, “You cannot take any team lightly specially in a format like the IPL. All the teams are equally balanced and anyone can beat anyone on a given day. This is what happened a game before when we played Gujarat. Everyone was expecting us to win but Gujarat thrashed us. That is why I keep on stressing that we cannot let go the intensity.” Nathan Coulter Nile, the hero of the last match against RCB has not travelled to Pune for the match. And the KKR captain is not complaining. According to Gambhir, “We do not want him to have too much workload with the kind of schedule which we have. We want him to be fit throughout the competition rather than playing him here. So we have given him a four days rest to recover himself for our next match.” Lastly, the KKR captain plays with a lot of pride. According to Gambhir, “You should have enough pride when you wear that KKR jersey. If you are not feeling the pride in wearing that jersey then you shouldn’t be wearing it. It’s not about me telling them to play for pride. There should be enough pride and motivation in the dressing room.”