After a sluggish start to the season, assistant coach Shane Watson stated that the Kolkata Knight Riders had now started to settle as a team and expressed confidence that the team can still make a late charge for the IPL playoffs.
KKR need to win every game they have left to maintain their chances of making the playoffs, as they are now in eighth with nine points.
“To be totally honest, we haven’t talked about anything like in the future at all,” PTI quoted Watson as saying ahead of their match against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Raipur.
“From where we were halfway through the tournament to the cricket that we’ve been playing over the last couple of games in particular, it’s been very impressive to be able to see our group really come together across all facets.
“We’re all optimistic and know that there’s been teams that have come and raged into the finals after not starting the season that well. The history of IPL has shown that, so we certainly know that that’s possible.”
According to Watson, the team needed some time to get used to the major changes that followed the auction.
“It was always going to take a bit of time for everyone to really work out where everyone fits into the squad and the team because there’s quite a bit of turnover from last season to this season,” he said.
“And now that things have come together very nicely, our batting order is much more settled. We’ve got more of an understanding of what really works for us with the makeup of our complete team.”
Watson added that mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who worsened his left leg injury during the previous game, is still unlikely to play in the upcoming game.
“He’s just being monitored at the moment. Obviously he was sore the second last game and the last game he was in a lot of pain, even though he still bowled incredibly well,” Watson said.
“We’ve got our fingers crossed that he will be available for tomorrow, but we’re just still not exactly sure.”
Watson described the ability level of young batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi as “astonishing” and was full of praise.
“His skill development as a 21-year-old, it’s quite astonishing to be honest. It’s mind blowing for me to be able to see his ability to adapt to different conditions, to different bowlers and have all the skill options and shot options to be able to navigate that as well as he possibly can.”
