After a decade long wait, Shah Rukh Khan’s franchise Kolkata Knight Riders lifted their third Indian Premier League trophy on Sunday at the M Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
They had lifted the IPL trophy in 2012 and 2014 under Gautam Gambhir’s captaincy, and now under his mentorship, KKR became the IPL 2024 winners after defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 wickets.
Earlier, batting first Sunrisers could manage to score 113 in 18.3 overs and were all out. This was the lowest totals in IPL finals till date. KKR chased the target in just 10.3 overs.
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Speaking after the match, SRH assistant coach Simon Helmot agreed that their plan to be aggressive fell flat quite early in the match.
In a post-match press conference, Helmot said, as quoted by PTI, “We were not going to change our brand or approach. We wanted to be aggressive but also smart and work the situations through.”
“Our plan certainly wasn’t to get bowled out for 113 in the 18th over. We played in a really positive way, but a few good deliveries (from KKR bowlers) early on put us on the back foot. Unfortunately, it was one of those days,” he added.
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Commenting on losing early wickets, Hemlot said, “Travis is experienced in playing left-arm pace. We have had games where both he and Abhishek (Sharma) have scored runs.”
“Obviously, we couldn’t get as much (support) from the middle order as we would have liked, but it was a fairly good ball to get rid of him (Head).” he added.
Helmot lauds KKR:
Helmot lauded the Shreyas Iyer-led franchise and said that they displayed an aggressive mentality throughout the season.
“We have got to give credit to KKR. They have had a great season, winning 79 per cent of their games and playing an aggressive brand with the bat, ball and on the field. But, we will come (back) hard next season,” he continued.
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“They (KKR) are a very balanced unit with their four pace bowlers and two very accomplished spinners. They have been a terrific team with an excellent batting depth and are deserving victors in this IPL.”
On SRH positives:
On being asked to pick positives in SRH’s performance this season, Helmot credited pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan. He also gave lauded all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy for his fielding. “I think Nattu and Bhuvi had a terrific finish to the season, along with Nitish Reddy, who is also probably one of the best fielders in the competition,” he said.
“…it’s no fluke that we managed to turn the tables from our (bottom-place) finish last year. We will use it as a catalyst coming into the season next year,” he concluded.
With agency inputs.
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Published: 27 May 2024, 05:45 PM IST