Kolkata Knight Riders opener Finn Allen called for patience in evaluating the three-time IPL winners after a lackluster start on Monday, urging his teammates to give themselves time to get ready.
KKR’s only point from four games came from a washout against Punjab Kings in Kolkata. The Ajinkya Rahane-led team, which will play the Chennai Super Kings in Chennai on Tuesday, is now at the bottom of the points standings after suffering up to three losses.
“It’s the nature of T20 cricket and trying to take down the game. It’s only been a couple of games. I don’t think you can judge too much off two games,” PTI quoted Allen telling reporters on the eve of the match in Chennai.
“Personally, I had a good start in the first two games. Obviously, I would have liked to kick on more but prep has been good and hopefully it (a big innings) is just around the corner.”
While acknowledging that they haven’t yet used home advantage at the Eden Gardens, Allen stated that KKR batters should give themselves more time in the middle to find runs.
“When all of our batters are at their best and we score at a quick enough rate, it’s just (about) finding that balance between giving yourself a chance to get set. I think we probably haven’t had Kolkata with the weather… it probably hasn’t been as flat as it usually is. For us, it’s been trying to figure out what is a good score on that wicket,” he said.
Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who missed their last match against the Lucknow Super Giants owing to a finger injury, has been practicing in the run-up to the match, according to KKR management.
“Varun has been training. He has had a bandage on his hand, but then he is still training. He has been training for all the days leading up to this so he is good,” a team official said.
Allen highlighted the impact of KKR assistant coach and former Australian vice-captain Shane Watson on his career.
“I have had a lot of experience with Watto now. He has got a world of knowledge. He is really good to talk to about batting. He is calm (and) I guess he has got a few of my anchors that he knows to bring me back when things are either going too well or not too well, which is good,” Allen said.
“I’ve just been working on my processes and trying to be consistent with those mindset-wise, trying to find that fire every game to go in with the same mindset and just keep trying to replicate that game by game,” he added.
