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The Kolkata Knight Riders came into IPL 2013 wearing the tag of defending champions. Now, 12 games into the tournament, they are languishing at a lowly No.7 on the points table. Even after getting themselves into a situation where they have to win every match to have a chance of getting into the top four, the KKR team couldn’t find their fire and lost to the Mumbai Indians by 65 runs at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday night.

After the match, a visibly dejected Lakshmipathy Balaji spoke to iplt20.com on coping with the tough phase. He also talked about his bowling figures of 3-1-7-0 even as Sachin Tendulkar led the rampage for MI to a 170-run total.

Excerpts:

Three overs for seven runs against the MI batting line-up – does a bowling performance like this at times feel better than the wickets?

Wickets are very important in T20. The extension of picking wickets is bowling dot balls and creating pressure. It is crucial to get the early breakthroughs. Even if you bowl three maidens they will catch up later on in the game. But wickets will peg them back. I was trying to get wickets as well but it didn’t happen. It was good to bowl tight though.

Do you go with a separate plan for every batsman or stick to a uniform strategy?

There’s a bit of individual planning depending on whether the batsman is good on off-side or leg-side. What his release shot is and where he normally gets out – is it for the in-dipper or the away going ball? You just try to put the batsmen in a situation he is not comfortable in. But at the end of the day, a good length is good length and it’s not going to change depending on the format or the batsman.

How has Brett Lee taken to the mentoring role?

I have shared various experiences with Brett Lee since 2011. We’ve shared the new ball, bowled in tandem. Bowling with a leading international bowler like him is a dream. When he becomes your mentor it’s an added advantage. It’s not only about what you do during the match but also how you prepare for it and think about your game off the field matters. He’s one of the greatest mentors we could get.

What has gone wrong with KKR this season?

We were one of the teams to look forward to, given what we had achieved in the last two seasons. We haven’t lived up to that promise despite having so much potential in the dressing room. I believe the main reason is that we haven’t combined different aspects of the game well. It’s either our bowling that clicks or the batting. We haven’t been able to do well in both departments at the same game. We still have four more games to go and we will give our 100 per cent to them.

Is too much desperation to win doing you in?

We don’t play our cricket with desperation and always enjoy our cricket. We enjoy each other’s success and stand by each other in times of failures. That is a good thing to have in a team. This quality has taken us to the heights that we achieved in the first two seasons.

Watching AB de Villiers bat and take a game away from the opposition can make different people think about different things. Some might enjoy it and wonder about the spectrum of shots that the South African puts on display while some might thank their stars that they don’t have to bowl at him and the spectators can just enjoy the unbridled entertainment.

Watching from the non-strikers end, Moises Henriques who had the best seat to watch the ‘de Villiers show’ sympathised with the opposition’s bowlers and wondered what he would do had he to bowl at the batter.

While speaking to iplt20.com after the match he said, “I was actually thinking, where the hell would you bowl to AB de Villiers” after the superb win. The all-rounder who contributed a 13-ball 27 in the unbroken 68 run partnership was happy about his team’s victory in the closely fought game but did not hold back praise while talking about PWI opener Robin Uthappa’s 45-ball 75 either.

Excerpts from the interview with Henriques:

On getting an away win under the belt after so much being talked about it

Oh have they? I haven’t noticed anything (laughs!). Yes well it is always good to get any win. I think was is our third straight game on the road now on this little trip so it was nice to get that win under the belt.

On AB de Villiers’ 50 off 23 balls with six boundaries and two sixes

It was pretty special. We have a bowlers meeting before the game where we talk about the opposition batsmen and where to bowl to them and I was actually thinking, ‘where the hell would you bowl to AB de Villiers’ because he hits the ball everywhere or anywhere, to all parts of the field so I was feeling for the bowler there because I wasn’t sure what I would do myself.

On contributing with the bat and working on his batting

I got a couple of lucky shots away early and then hit a couple of nice ones in the end. But yes it is good to come out to bat when you have someone as experienced as AB at the other end and we ran more between the wickets as well and the balls that we didn’t hit boundaries off, we were coming hard for ones or twos as well.

On the way Robin Uthappa batted and whether they thought that he could turn the tables on them

Well that is the key isn’t it? To have one of the guys from the top four going on to make a big score and Robin batted really well. To go out there and bat the way he did, he probably deserved a big scorer than he did because I thought he batted wonderfully. Luckily he got out there in the end and it was a good result for us.

On whether the wicket had changed as the game progressed or whether they had decided to settle down and then go for runs

Any team with Chris Gayle at the top, certainly would not plan to start slow. You obviously want to put bowlers under pressure right from the word go. I am not sure how the wicket played early but we got off to a slow start but we had wickets in hand and did not panic. And Saurabh (Tiwary) batted beautifully to the conditions at the top. That set a really good platform for us, down the order to come in and bat with freedom.

On his bowling

There wasn’t much pace in the wicket for the fast bowlers or any bounce so you had to be quite disciplined with your length. I missed my length a couple of times and I had to pay the price. I thought couple of the other bowlers bowled really well on Thursday and kept us in the game.

On whether he considers himself a bowling all-rounder or batting all-rounder

It depends on what I do better on the night, Thursday I might be the batting all-rounder but in the last game I probably was the bowling all-rounder. I just go with the flow and see how things progress. I make sure I am working on both during training, as hard as I possibly can.

It takes immense sense of security and selflessness as the leader of a group to accept shortcomings and be harsh on yourself for the greater good of the team. In IPL, many captains have shown that readiness to drop themselves from the team in order to maintain the balance of the side.

It was ironical that two of Australia’s greatest batsmen – Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting – treaded that path in the same game, on Monday evening. While Ponting has been sitting out to get an in-from opening pair in place, Gilchrist made the decision in order to give opportunity to the younger overseas players.

The ploy almost worked for Kings XI Punjab as they came within four excruciating runs to chasing down Mumbai Indians’ 174. After the thriller in Mumbai, iplt20.com spoke to Gilchrist in an attempt to understand his mindset as the team’s leader.

Not the result you aimed for but you must be proud of the fight the team showed chasing that total?

Yes, they almost chased it down but not quite. It was a nice fighting effort when it looked like the match was going out of hand. There’s a bit of positive to take from the game.

When did you decide that you will sit out this game and how long have you been contemplating it?

Since the last few games we’ve had to think about it as a selection group. We had to look at the right balance and find the right players who were playing well and could contribute most to the team. It was obvious that I haven’t contributed with the runs but there are other things that I bring to the table as well. We were just trying to work out whether that outweighed the option of giving the opportunity to someone else. Shaun Marsh was fit and we had Luke Pomersbach on the sidelines as well. In the end I thought it was more compelling to give them the opportunity rather than me playing with the results I’d been getting.

Some of the shots you played against SRH and KKR gave an impression that a big knock was around the corner. Did feel the same?

Those two innings were okay but in eight games if you haven’t made a significant contribution you’re a bit of a passenger. We’ve said all along that we want to pick our team based on performance and not reputation. I’ll keep practising and if the opportunity arises, I’ll come in and nail that big one.

At times even when the runs aren’t coming in the match, you know that you are in good nick. How are you feeling about your form at the moment?

Form is a rubbish word. It’s more accurate to say that you’re not getting results. You’re spot on – there are times when you feel good about your game but fail to score runs. I’ve had more batting practice for this IPL than any other previous season. I have hit a lot of balls in the nets and have felt very comfortable. But that hasn’t translated to results in games. You can go into every fine detail of my dismissals saying I was unlucky there or the bowler was fortunate. But at the end of the day I haven’t contributed and that’s no problem when you’ve got batting talent like Shaun Marsh, Pomersbach, David Hussey and David Miller. It’s not a tough decision. It’s unfortunate and I’d love to do well but that’s not the case.

How tough is it to prepare your body and mind for two months of cricket in a year?

I haven’t found it that tough up to this point. This is the first time that I’ve had a run of low scores like this. Who knows if that’s another year older and another year out of it. You definitely realise that you’re a little bit behind the pace year after year as compared to the guys who are playing cricket full time. Whether it’s up to the point that you can’t contribute is what you have to make up your mind eventually on.

Did the thought of giving up wicket-keeping gloves and just playing as a batsman ever cross your mind?

No, never. I’ve played years and years of cricket now. So for me it’s not a case of having to focus on batting because keeping is taking up time and energy. It’s part of my nature now and part of who I am. It’s like riding a bike. Once you know it, you don’t need to focus on the skills required and think of the work load impeding on the batting. If anything, I have contributed more with the gloves than with the bat this year and so I am lucky to have my keeping gloves on.

You’ve been a leader and a mentor in IPL. In which role have you evolved more?

That’s an interesting question. I’ve never sat back and thought about how I have evolved in a single role. Right from the first IPL I’ve tried to bring in all my all-round cricketing experience into the two sides I’ve been part of (Deccan Chargers and KXIP). I’ve tried to use my batting, keeping, captaincy and leadership skills to create an environment in the team. It’s all part of the package.

A word on David Miller? What impresses the most about him?

Just his personality. He’s one of the most lovely young blokes you’ll come across. His appetite for learning and his work ethic to complement his clean striking are all excellent. He’s been in the IPL since three years and has done a lot of watching for the first two years. Now that he’s got his chance you can see how well he has developed. He’s growing at the international scene as well for South Africa.

Do you know how all were looking forward to seeing an Adam Gilchrist vs Ricky Ponting contest? And none of you played!

We both got splinters sitting on our backside on the wooden bench (laughs). I do look forward to the contest when MI come to Mohali but not in any way other than getting two points over his team. I look forward to seeing him and having a drink with him tonight. It was funny, we were chatting to each other before the game about sitting on the bench and that’s the way it is. There are worse things you could be doing in life.

Given KXIP’s resources, what is your take on the team’s standing half way into the tournament?

Talking about the resources of the teams, you’ve only got to look at the salaries paid out by teams to figure out which is a white collar team and which is a blue collar one. We’re a blue collar team and that’s not for a moment questioning our owners. That’s the kind of franchise we are. MI have paid over 12 million dollars to their players; they have a bloke they’re paying a million dollars who doesn’t even look like getting a game (Glenn Maxwell). When you have more money to dispose it’s going to allow you better selection. That doesn’t mean our franchise is of lesser value as people. We are a team of grinders; we fight really hard and we don’t have any ego around the team. It’s a lovely atmosphere to play in.

Playing at their brand new home ground in Raipur, Delhi Daredevils made the ideal start. Given that their 0-7 start in IPL 2013 had them nailed to the bottom of league standings, DD truly needed a shot in the arm in order to move up.

Their initial boost came with a convincing home win against the mighty Mumbai Indians. And now, they finally have risen from the ninth spot on the table thanks to their triumph over Pune Warriors India.

“Obviously, it is a great feeling to have two points on the board,” said wicketkeeper- batsman, Kedar Jadhav. “It is a new venue for us… a new home ground. So, it is always good to start with a win.”

“With the amount of quality players that we have, we definitely can make the playoffs. But it is difficult. Actually, we have made it difficult for ourselves by losing so many games early on,” said Jadhav while assessing his team’s journey thus far in IPL 2013. “But it’s quite achievable. In the next seven games, we’ll have to win at least six games. We’ll take it one-by-one as they come.”