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NewsTranscript
00:00Kolkata fought back well in this match, to be very honest. After losing 5 matches, they showed a lot of character.
00:14Good evening. Welcome to yet another episode of Straight Back with Mr. Cricket UAE and Golf News.
00:21First up, here's a very warm Eid Mubarak wishes to all our viewers.
00:26With me, I've got the man himself, Mr. Anish Sajjan, Mr. Cricket UAE, as he's called,
00:31and my colleague, A.K. Satish, the sports editor of Golf News. Anish bhai, I'll first come to you.
00:41How do you sum up this game? KKR returned to the winning ways. I mean, it seems to be,
00:48you know, a bit too late in the day. But yes, after 5 matches, a 7-wicket win.
00:54How do you sum up the match? Hi, Gautam. Hello, Mr. Satish. And hello to all the gorgeous people
01:01of Golf News. First of all, wishing you all a very happy Eid Mubarak. Yes, Kolkata fought back
01:07well in this match, to be very honest. After losing 5 matches, they showed a lot of character. First,
01:11led by their bowlers. And then, I would say, this was a tricky chase. Mind you, this was not an easy
01:16wicket. But their batsmen applied. And you have to give it to Nitish Rana and Rinku to finish the
01:22game. Because you've seen many games lost in such situations. But Rinku, as well as Nitish Rana,
01:29held their nerve and showed their temperament and beat a good side like RR, which has a good
01:34bowling attack. Right. Yeah. I mean, I will come to you again before moving on to, again,
01:41a bit of Sanju Samson today. You know, the first match, first leg match between RR and KKR,
01:50I mean, that was the match when Chahal did all the damage. So, they looked a little better
01:55prepared this time, especially Shreyas, Nitish, as well as Rinku Singh. They were playing the
02:02spinners very well. They knew what to do, using their feet. So, do you think they've done their
02:07homework and that's the result showed in this game? Well, there's a saying, Mr. Gautam,
02:17once bitten, twice shy. And mind you, there were left-handers batting this time. So, it was much
02:23more easier for Rinku and Nitish Rana to tackle the danger man, Ujendra Chahal. But having said that,
02:30he has the googly. But they used their feet, as you rightly mentioned. And this was a smaller
02:35target. In fact, the other day, it was a belter of a wicket when they lost 4 wickets in one over
02:40and Chahal got the better of KKR. But this victory will give a lot of moral boost to KKR. And on the
02:47same side, this is RR's second loss. I remember when they lost that match against one of the
02:53teams, Mumbai Indians, where they allowed Mitchell to bowl the over and it cost 20 runs. This might
03:01come to haunt. Now, they are stuck at 12 points and other teams are catching. I'm not saying KKR.
03:05But tomorrow, imagine one of the teams will go up definitely between Punjab and I believe there's
03:10one team playing Gujarat. So, that's not going to be easy. All eyes will be on Punjab. But KKR
03:18are in now a good position. I'm not saying good, but RR is in strife. Right. Well, Satish, I'll
03:26come to you now. RR, yes, they're stuck at 12 points for two games. And they're now in third
03:32position. Now, given the way they had started their campaign, if they can't finish in the top two,
03:39going up in the playoffs as the third or the fourth side is always tricky as
03:43RCB will tell you. So, what do you think? I mean, what is going wrong, Satish? How do you assess
03:49your performance of RR this evening? I think Gautam, RR is going to find it very difficult
03:54because my gut feeling is, or rather what I see is, the wickets are slowing down. So, Butler will
04:00not have the same easy, free-flowing game that he has. That has been the hallmark of his knocks
04:08in the last 8, 9, 10 games, whatever it is. So, he has to now rotate, strike and play differently,
04:14which will not help RR's cause because he has been scoring runs at a very fast pace. Today,
04:21he was not able to get it and see where they ended up. 150 plus. And that is thanks to
04:27Tim South. He is the largest in the 19th over, where he bowled two balls on the slot to hit and
04:34couple of whites. In fact, if he had bowled a proper over, maybe they wouldn't have reached
04:40more than 130. So, that shows the importance of one man in batting. And Sanju is a great
04:47batsman. He can get you a 50, 30, 40. But he will not be able to get you that winning total.
04:53So, it's going to be difficult because RR bowlers thrive, any bowler for that matter,
04:59they thrive and they do well when they have enough runs to bowl at. Ask Rabada, he keeps
05:07complaining that Punjab doesn't score the runs so that he can't get them the wickets. So, it's
05:13going to be extremely difficult in both ways because unless they give them the runs, it's
05:16going to be difficult. And even if they chase, it's going to be difficult for them because if
05:22Butler gets out, then there is a bit of a panic there. Right. Here, I would like to ask you one
05:27thing. I mean, we have often spoken about Samson's leadership. Here, it looked like a collective
05:34decision. And since T20 is a game of such small margins, what was Rian Parag doing ahead of
05:42Shimran Hetmaier today? I mean, see, it's not that it made too much of a difference.
05:46But Hetmaier, he is the guy in the lower order, he had the best strike rate. So,
05:53why not send Hetmaier before him? No, some of the decisions really beats me, Gautam, because
05:58it's not just Parag. One match, I think they sent even Ashwin. So, two matches.
06:06Ashwin has a pinch hitter ahead of Hetmaier and co. And that is after he got retired. And
06:14actually, Hetmaier had come earlier, it would have given a left-right combination,
06:20maybe things could have been different. So, I don't know. I don't know where the
06:25logic or where the team management is thinking about because you have some of the best brains
06:29like Sangakkara, everybody's sitting there. And I don't know what is happening there. Seriously.
06:35Right. Yeah, I mean, it looked like a collective decision today after all.
06:39I'll come to Anisbhai on that note. Anisbhai, KKR made, when they made a number of sweeping
06:45changes, then, you know, in the social media, their fans kind of started saying that,
06:51what do you do? You don't even have a settled lineup. But one or two changes, I mean, Venkatesh
06:56had nine matches and 132 runs. So, and Indrajit, when he came, I mean, you're getting him to
07:05multitask. So, what do you think about the changes that they came in with, including Anupul Roy,
07:10the left-arm spinner, I mean, who's an all-rounder actually? What do you think about that, Anisbhai?
07:16See, I've already mentioned in one of my articles where too many changes doesn't give confidence
07:22to the dressing room. I mean, you can have a one-off change, like you mentioned about
07:26Venkatesh Iyer going through a tough time, and you've given him enough chances. But every second
07:31match, if you keep changing, 3-3 players is not giving the right signals. Secondly, we all know,
07:38there are two reasons for KKR having this problem. Let's now keep the side about the changing.
07:44But suddenly, KKR, who was playing the Gango style of cricket, have forgotten how to play
07:48the power play. They first started bang-bang cricket. Once they started losing, they have
07:52come back to the traditional cricket. And the other point which I want to mention today,
07:56the guy Anupul Roy, he is a terrific fielder, a fantastic left-arm spinner. Not because he bowled
08:02well today. But when you know that you are one of your spinners, we are talking about the mystery
08:06spinner Varun Chakraborty failing, you have kept him in the hut. I mean, they have tried him a
08:11little late. I believe now they have to win all matches. Can they do it like last year,
08:14we will have to wait and watch. But better late than never. Now I hope this side is settled.
08:19Because we heavily depend on Andre Russell. And today, I am glad they won the match
08:24without Andre Russell contributing with a bat and ball.
08:28I still feel that Finch and Indrajith, the opening pair is still not settled. Because Finch is
08:35completely clueless.
08:37What do you do, Satish? What do you do? Now, where do you go?
08:41Correct. And I think the injury to Hales, isn't it?
08:46Hales will not come.
08:48That I think must have upset their plans maybe. That's why Finch came.
08:54Yeah. He went unsold. That tells its story. But then, this is IPL. Because Pat Cummins had been
09:04going for runs and his bowling is not suited to the way the wickets have now started to behave
09:09already. We will see Team Saudi only as among the two. And that's why we would like to just
09:17ask you to go through the competition which is running. If you can just run through it before
09:23we come to tomorrow's game. And then we'll see if you need any other opinions, observations.
09:31Yes, Gautam. On this beautiful page, Gulf News, you have an opportunity every day to win a match
09:38kit which is a t-shirt track and a cap and a one-year digital subscription of Gulf News.
09:43What you need to do is predict the winner. Yes, predicting the winner is very difficult.
09:47Everybody said today RR is the favorites and the way KKR stunned them is difficult. But if you are
09:53a cricket buff and if you love Gulf News, make sure to log on to the page and predict the winner
09:57and you walk away with these lovely prizes. Brilliant. Satish, any more observation about
10:03today's game? Do you feel that, where do you see Royals going from here? I mean,
10:08they can hold on to their position and then be in the running for a long, long time.
10:13Very difficult, Gautam. Very, very difficult. Because, you see, the sad part or the good part
10:19about the season is, there are only two or four points that differ, you know, like almost six teams.
10:26So, if you just blink and probably some other team will go past you. So, I think,
10:33they need to get their act together. And that's what, over-reliance on two bowlers, the spinners
10:39and the butler is going to cost them. And unfortunately, 10 matches or 8 matches,
10:44they have won those matches with this combination and they don't know now where to go about.
10:49And they won't know whether to change the combination or whether to try something.
10:53They are caught in a little tough situation. But if they get their act right, I'm sure they can
11:03get this one or two wins, I think, which should help them to come to the playoffs. But nothing
11:08is certain as of now. Yeah, yeah. I mean, the margin is really getting shorter and shorter.
11:14On that note, I'll come to Anisbhai about tomorrow's game. Gujarat Titans sitting pretty
11:20with 16 games. They are playing Punjab Kings tomorrow. On the face of it, it looks like
11:26Gujarat should be on a roll. But what's your take, Anisbhai, on tomorrow's game?
11:30I would be lying, Gautam, if I fancy Punjab to upset Gujarat. Not because Gujarat is sitting
11:36on top. But Punjab has been playing poor cricket. In spite of, on paper, they look a good side.
11:42It's only if their batting comes off, they will be able to compete against Gujarat.
11:47Unless they score 200 runs, if they bat first, they will be able to beat Gujarat.
11:53If the bats second, Gujarat has the bowling to even defend 160 runs.
12:00Right. Right. Yeah. I mean, one thing very quickly. I mean, do you see those 200-plus
12:07totals happening in the back end of the tournament that frequently now? I mean,
12:12moving forward. Moving forward to the next three weeks.
12:15It depends on wicket to wicket. Like, today's wicket was sticky. It was helping the spinners
12:19as well as the fast bowlers. Now, tomorrow, I am not sure where they are playing. Sometimes,
12:24some wickets are flat and you can get heaps of runs. Some wickets are slow. You can't even get
12:29160. So, you have to assess the wicket. So, the players who go to open trainings should be able
12:34to tell the other players that this is what is the target. And we need to make sure that
12:39we reach that target. Today, RR, I am afraid, because they lost Butler, they somehow managed
12:45thanks to Hetmair 155. Otherwise, they would have not even seen 140.
12:49Right. Right. Satish, what's your take about tomorrow's game? Gujarat or Punjab?
12:55Gujarat, Gautam. Because nine matches, they have seven or eight different match-winners
13:01right now. And they are on a roll. And again, as Anisbhai said, the wickets are going to be
13:09difficult. It's going to be slower, maybe. Very, very rarely you get these flat tracks. So, you
13:15need to get these… Really, clinical wins. There is no room for any errors. So, the way Punjab or
13:24other teams are playing, they are leaving gaping holes which allow them to slip and
13:31fall by the wayside as they go by. Right. Yeah, even I also think that it's difficult to look
13:39past Gujarat Titans. They have an answer for all kinds of situations. Unless they have got an
13:45exceptionally poor day, it's difficult to see them floundering against Punjab Kings.
13:52But on a poor day, you will still have Miller and Tewadkar to handle, which is too hard.
13:59Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yeah. I mean, see, winning those scraps is what differentiates a good team
14:05from a… When you are on a roll, you are on a roll. That's what we were talking about Rajasthan
14:10Royals, I think, today. Yes. So, difficult to look beyond. I mean, we are basically 3-0 here.
14:17So, we'll look forward to tomorrow's game and then assemble tomorrow for another session of
14:23Straight Back with Gulf News and Mr. Cricket UAE. Till then, thanks for staying with us.
14:28And once again, Eid Mubarak to all of our viewers. Thank you.
14:31Eid Mubarak. Thank you. Bye. Eid Mubarak.