XtraTime Web Desk: It was a do or die match for Kolkata Knight Riders when they faced Mumbai Indians at Wankhede in their last group league match as they needed to win the game else SunRisers Hyderabad would have qualified. In the end though KKR lost the game and SRH were lucky to make it to the playoffs thanks to better run rate. Their ace leg spinner Rashid Khan revealed what was going in the dressing room when the match was going on and at one stage they were thinking that the SRH team was playing in the ground at that time.
“We all were watching the game in the team room. We planned that we will just watch the game and if we qualify, we will celebrate. And if that doesn’t happen, then we would have said goodbye to each other. It was like we were playing the game inside the ground. So now we are happy to be in playoffs. Now it’s upon us to show that we deserve to be here,” said Rashid ahead of the start of the eliminator.
Rashid feels that they are missing their star opening duo of Johnny Bairstow and David Warner in the eliminator but the team management is happy with the contribution of Martin Guptill and Wriddhiman Saha.”I think definitely we miss them. They gave us great starts earlier in the tournament. They shared four one hundred partnerships at the top which is incredible. But now the way Martin Guptill & Wriddhiman Saha are giving us starts now, we never feel having a bad start as they have been giving us good starts,” added Rashid.
As per Rashid the middle order should bat more cautiously in the eliminator which has been their concern in the tournament this season.”In the middle we just have to adjust and spend a bit more time in the middle overs till the 15th over and take the charge. I think we have planned well over everything as a team and we need to stick on that plan and do well in the eliminator today,” concluded Rashid.