Kolkata: Jubilant after leading his side to a facile triumph over Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir is now plotting revenge over Pune Warriors India - the side led by one of Kolkata's favourite sons Sourav Ganguly. Having guided the side to a 47-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in front of a packed Eden Gardens Saturday night, Gambhir hoped that the spectators would root for KKR in their match against Pune on May 5 despite Ganguly leading the opposition. "The way we have played, I think Kolkata will get a lot of support from the people. It`s Kolkata`s team... No other team belongs to Kolkata," Gambhir, who smashed a 51-ball 93 for his second Man-of-the-Match this season, said after the win.
"For me, it`s KKR vs Pune Warriors. Whether the crowd supports us or not, KKR is a team of Kolkata. We play to bring smiles on the people of Kolkata. It`s not about playing against individuals." Gambhir praised offspinner Yusuf Pathan who returned with figures of 1 for 19. "He did a great job with the ball. He did a great job when he was bowling against Chris Gayle. His four overs for 19 turned the match around," he said.
Backing the off-colour allrounder who is yet to hit form with the bat, Gambhir said Yusuf`s confidence would get a boost from the bowling performance. "He [Yusuf] is one of the biggest match winners India have ever seen. I`ve lot of confidence in him that he is going to win two-three games for us. It`s just a matter of time that he would do something magical for us."
Gambhir said he did not regret missing out on a century by seven runs. "I was hitting the ball well so it was important for me to stay till the end. But I don`t want to take credit away from [Brendon] McCullum and the way Jacques [Kallis] and played in. A lot of credit goes to both of them as well. Fortunately everything was just going my way."
"I don`t think about centuries. There is no one in the dressing room who thinks about individual records. We play as a unit. Century or no centuries, it`s about winning games. For me, it was all about winning. We always knew we had the bowling. Someone like Sunil Narine who bowled four overs for nothing."
But Gambhir felt KKR should have bowled out Bangalore who were restricted for 143 for six. "To be honest, with the attack we have, we should have bowled the opposition out. That is one thing maybe we want to rectify. That could have been more convincing. I am not someone who keeps sitting on the laurels."
KKR are sitting pretty in second place with 11 points from nine matches. Gambhir said their focus is now on their match in Chennai on Monday. "I don`t look into future. We need to focus on one game at a time. I don`t think too much. Every game is important. Our focus is on our next game [against Chennai Super Kings]."
The KKR skipper sought to put an end to talks that the Eden strip makes it difficult to bat especially while chasing. "Let`s put a full stop on [talks about] the Eden wicket. A team batting first putting 190 and team batting second notching 140-odd runs should not throw the wicket in a poor light. Let`s start giving credit to the teams as well. We also play on difficult wickets when we go away. From KKR, I don`t think we have ever criticised [the wickets we get in our away matches]."
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