Kolkata Knight Riders posted a historic 24-run win over Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede in Mumbai on Friday to bring an end to a search of 12 years for a win at the hallowed ground in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League.
Venkatesh Iyer headlined KKR’s batting performance with a 70-run innings that propelled KKR to a total of 169, before Micthell Starc’s four-wicket haul bundled out the hosts for a mere 145 runs to pick up all points on offer.
KKR got off to a shaky start as they lost the wickets of Phil Salt, Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer, Rinku Singh and Angkrish Raghuvanshi early in the game and opted to bring in Manish Pandey as an impact player in place of teenager Raghuvanshi.
The move yielded dividends as Venkatesh and Manish went on to put up a solid 83-run stand that proved crucial.
Player of the match, Venkatesh touched upon the necessity for flexibility as a cricketer and the ability to be able to adapt to various situations the sport might throw at one.
“As a professional cricketer, I have to be flexible in terms of situation. When I started hitting the ball well, two more wickets fell and I thought I have to play the anchor role,” the southpaw said.
He also touched upon the nature of Manish’s solidity in the role of an anchor, which proved immense for the side from Kolkata on the day.
“This is the fourth or fifth time Manish has padded up. This time he got to bat. Rather than sending Russell and Ramandeep higher, better to have Manish who can play the anchor role,” he said.
He revealed that the wicket was rather sticky and the ball was holding up a bit instead of coming onto the bat.
“Ball was holding and it was a two-paced wicket.”
He added that he would have opted for a more aggressive approach, however, citing the requirements of the team and the situation they found themselves in, it was better to extend his time at the crease.
“I try to be a smarter cricketer. It would’ve been easy for me to go after Piyush Chawla and the fast bowlers. But, the team needed me to be there till the end,” he expressed.
The southpaw was seen exchanging word with Delhi Capitals’ Director of Cricket following KKR’s previous fixture against the capital city. He revealed that he has been a huge admirer of the Prince of Kolkata and had asked the former Indian skipper for technical advice, which turned out fruitful.
“I’ve been a huge fan of Dada. I went to ask him about my stance and technical aspects,” the 29-year-old said.
“It was a fruitful conversation. It’s coming through in my stance and other aspects in the nets,” he signed off.
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