Mumbai: Skipper Shreyas Iyer is backing Kolkata Knight Riders to get back to winning ways despite suffering five losses in eight games and finding themselves eighth on the 2022 IPL points table.
"It's definitely a proud moment for me to captain such an amazing bunch of team where we see lot of talent and hunger," Iyer told kkr.in.
"We got off to a really good start with three wins out of four games but after that things didn't go pretty well for us but I still believe in the team." "We are ticking all the boxes to get on to the field and win matches. It's just the execution part (where we are lacking). Other than that it's an amazing franchise to be part of and I am really proud of how we have been doing so far. It's just a matter of time once we get going, we will be unstoppable as a team."
Sam Billings, the England wicket-keeper batter, pointed to the positive team spirit and belief within the squad that is crucial in a bid to turn the season's narrative around.
"I think the challenges we are facing at the moment is turning the results around," Billings said. "One good thing is that the team spirit hasn't dropped and a lot of work from the skipper and coach has gone into keeping the group nice and tight. Moving forward, it's a great opportunity to turn things around. The biggest takeaway you see is the character of the individuals and also the squad in times like these."
Despite four losses in a row, the side only needs to look at emulating their 2021 turnaround when KKR won five out of the last seven games after managing just two wins in the first seven to storm into the qualifiers and ended up as the runners-up.
With six games to go, Iyer is confident the side can turn the season around and challenge for a spot at the qualifiers with an added incentive of playing in home conditions at the Eden Gardens.
"We just got to know the qualifiers are at the Eden Gardens so we'll put in our 100 per cent efforts to see to it that we win the games and go out there and entertain the fans," he said.
"The atmosphere has been amazing right from the start. The results are part and parcel of the game and definitely, the way we have been preparing as a team it is simply outstanding and people are putting in hard yards to see to it we win matches. It is unfortunate that the results aren't going our way and as Sam said, we have built the foundation really well. It's just time to execute the right things at the right time." (UNI)