Katich hoped the team's batting unit will deliver in the crunch game. © BCCI
Kolkata Knight Riders assistant coach Simon Katich did not want to go too much into the calculations before Gautam Gambhir and his teammates take the field against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last league match in IPL-9 at the Eden Gardens on Sunday .
"Ultimately, we know that if we win, we go through. This is basically like a final.We will be going into the match thinking only about winning it," Katich said on Saturday .
The Australian agreed that KKR did put up a poor show against Gujarat Lions in Kanpur in the last match, but was confident that the Knights will bounce back against the Sunrisers.
"Everyone was disappointed with the result the other night. A loss like that does not mean we are a bad team. We have to regroup and start again," Katich stated.
He also backed the opening duo of Gambhir and Robin Uthappa who have failed to fire in the last few matches."We feel that they are very good players and good players normally respond to pressure and big-match situations," Katich said.
He also hoped the team's batting unit will deliver in the crunch game. "Our batsmen have been in good form.They just had a disappointing game the other night but that does not make them bad players. Hopefully they will come back with a positive mindset," he opined.
The KKR team management is still not sure whether the injured Andre Russell will be fit to play on Sunday.
"Andre is getting treatment (hamstring injury) from our physio but we are still unsure about his condition" said Katich.
Although KKR's main bowling weapon Sunil Narine has failed to recreate his magic this season, Katich still felt the spinner has done reasonably well.
"I would not say he is off colour. History says many guys have found it hard to come back after remedial action.He has been fantastic in the way he has approached it. He has bowled in the Power Play and also at the death. To me, that is a huge positive," Katich said.
The KKR think-tank has discussed how to tackle SRH's left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who has been their standout performer.
"We spent a fair amount of time talking about him.Our batsmen, particularly Gautam, played him beautifully the last time the two teams met. It is something that we have to do again," he stated.
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