Kolkata, April 25
With four successive defeats at home, Punjab Kings are on the road once again and will go into a key clash against the in-form Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday, hoping to dominate the home spinners at the Eden Gardens.
KKR are currently occupying the second position in the points table with five wins in seven games, while Punjab Kings are second from bottom with four points from eight matches. While Kolkata Knight Riders enter the match with a victory against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in a high-scoring slugfest, PBKS went down to Gujarat Titans by three wickets after getting bundled out for 142 with spinner Sai Kishore claiming 4-33.
But despite the tough contest on Friday, Punjab Kings' spin bowling coach Sunil Joshi insisted the team is ready for the challenge of facing the KKR spin attack on their home turf.
"We are not concerned about KKR spin bowling. Every cricketer who comes to IPL, which is one of the best leagues in the world, puts up a challenge. You have to accept the challenge. Whether you perform or do not perform, you have to be ready. Every day is a different day with different challenges. Your body feels differently. We feel we are ready for tomorrow," said Joshi.
In eight games this season so far, Punjab have picked up two wins. But Joshi said that the team is confident of making a strong comeback and is focusing on areas where they can improve further.
"It's important to understand that any team will go through wins and losses. Our focus is to rise again. This is a short format of the game, where you might get hit for a six on the best ball or you get a wicket on a loose ball," he said.
"It depends on how you prepare your body for the day of the game and how mentally relaxed you are. Every time you face the stress of performing, your body may not fire. You have to be calm down and play one ball at a time," Joshi added.
Kolkata have lost one out of their four games at their home ground so far. Their last win at the Eden Gardens was by 1 run against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
"We go through a lot of stuff during our training sessions, phase-wise. One of our areas to work around is to not lose too many wickets in the middle overs. Hopefully, the pressure is now on the home team - since we are on the road again. So, we can play freely and get runs," Joshi said.
"KKR have been performing consistently well in all three departments. Any team which covers all three departments will be on top of the table. You have to respect that. But every day, every game is a different one. Playing under home and away conditions has its scenarios and a lot of things matter. So, hopefully, it will be a good game for us tomorrow," Joshi added.
Sam Curran has donned the role of the captain for the past three games, with skipper Shikhar Dhawan out due to an injury. Giving an update on Dhawan's injury, Joshi said, "Shikhar Dhawan was injured on the ground, we miss his batting services. He is on the road to recovery. We saw him batting at the nets. Hopefully, he is in the recovery process and would be fit for the next game."
On being asked about the form of the overseas talent in the team, Joshi backed the squad and said that the results are decided by overall team performance.
"We are a team. We win together or we lose together. Even if win or lose by 1 run or wicket, the team takes it head-on and moves on," he signed off.
Match starts at 7:30 pm on Star Sports (TV) and JioCinema (mobile).