After getting pinned down by a Raina special, KKR coach Jacques Kallis chose to brush the loss aside and look ahead. More
'Gujarat caught in early Narine flourish'
He's been given the license. Comes in, swings and whips Praveen Kumar - poor lad's making a comeback! - for a boundary. And then twice again in the same over. Then four boundaries in James Faulkner's over, too! He likes incumbents; that's one thing I have noted down.
Sunil Narine so far: 0 4 0 0 4 4 4 0 4 4 4 0 4 4 6 0 = 42 (16)
Michael Clarke rings the big, bad bell at the Eden Gardens, that somehow reminds me of my many a parents-enforced religious visits. And by the way, Sunil Narine walks out with his co-opener, Gautam Gambhir.
Rijo Mon mails me asking about Chris Lynn's injury update. Well, my senior subeditor, Shirshendu, tells me this: "He is focusing hard on getting back to full strength. Stayed away from the media glare, and focused on strengthening exercises. Should be back some time in the tournament, but hush hush tones in general."
Teams:
Gujarat Lions (Playing XI): Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina(c), Aaron Finch, Dinesh Karthik(w), Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, James Faulkner, Praveen Kumar, Basil Thampi, Dhawal Kulkarni
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Gautam Gambhir(c), Robin Uthappa(w), Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Suryakumar Yadav, Shakib Al Hasan, Chris Woakes, Sunil Narine, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav
Toss: Suresh Raina opts to bowl
Gujarat Lions make two changes: James Faulkner comes in for Andrew Tye, Praveen Kumar returns in place of Shivil Kaushik
Kolkata Knight Riders swap Colin de Grandhomme with Shakib Al Hasan.
From ground zero: "Get a feeling that they are going to address their Indian pace bowling woe with Praveen Kumar. So musical chairs between Dhawal, Praveen, Munaf continues," is what Shirshendu Roy pings me from Calcutta.
Hello and welcome, again
As much as the weather seems to conspire otherwise, being pleasant at this time of the year - can you believe? - it's difficult playing at a packed Eden Gardens, especially when you are languishing at the bottom of the table. There are hordes of people, often fanatic, intimidating you; there's a team that knows how to win, more so at home; and then there's your self-esteem, down in the trenches after you were pummelled by the same team earlier this season. Remember Chris Lynn, eh?
Add to that the fact that Kolkata Knight Riders are on a three-match winning streak, with their last win coming in an away game at Delhi, when Manish Pandey (unbeaten 69 off 49) took them home. Gujarat Lions need willpower tonight. And they need their bowling to transmogrify into something miraculous on a newly laid Calcutta pitch that aids shot-making like it's the second best place to be, after Flurys on Park Street.
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