They might be high on confidence following their seven-match winning streak, but Kolkata Knight Riders coach Trevor Bayliss on Monday said his team will have to stay grounded and perform well in order to make the finals of the IPl. “It’s very similar to two years ago in 2012.
We’re on a high coming into the semis (playoffs). We are in a good space but that does not necessarily mean that we will win. To give yourself a chance in the semis you got to be playing good, confident cricket. We’re playing against some very good teams,” Bayliss said on Monday.
“I’m very proud of the boys and the character they showed. We have made the semis (qualifier one) and playing well by winning last seven games,” he added.
Glenn Maxwell has been the key force in table toppers KXIP’s success this season, but the KKR coach said they won’t go by the hype created by the media and urged the team to stay focussed. “I don’t read too much about what you guys write but we’re very happy with the way we played against Kings in the last two matches, we’re chasing 130-something. We’re going to have our game. They’re a very good batting team, they can quite easily turn around. We have to stay focussed in what we’re doing,” said Bayliss.
He, however, said they were not taking anyone lightly and even a player like Virender Sehwag, who seemed to have lost his prime, could be dangerous. “He’s still a very dangerous player. The consistency may fall a little as the players get old but that does not mean they can’t score in the same manner they did once. He’s batted very well on occasions in this tournament, we’re certainly not taking him lightly. He’s a class player, a very destructive batsman, one that we would like to get out very early,” said Bayliss.
Robin Uthappa has been a revelation for KKR since he’s promoted to open the innings, as he’s now the leading run-getter in the tournament. “We did make a few small changes. The biggest change we made was with the batting order in trying to find the best combination,” said Bayliss.