‘Even Mumbai had a bad start’: Moeen Ali confident about Kolkata Knight Riders’ playoff chances | Ipl News
Ahead of their all-important match against former skipper Shreyas Iyer’s Punjab Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Moeen Ali said that KKR could also turn around their season just like the Mumbai Indians. MI had a dismal start to the tournament but now find themselves 4th after back to back 4 wins. Kolkata, meanwhile, are in a tougher predicament needing to win at least 5 matches of the 6 remaining.
“Yes definitely (we can make playoffs). If you look at hory, even Mumbai had a bad start and now they’ve won four in a row and they’re flying. We need to have that same mindset. We’re halfway through, we have to win most of our games. This squad has shown it can go on a run. But it’s going to take a lot of determination and belief to do that,” Moeen said on Friday.
He also reflected on KKR’s embarrassing loss against the Punjab Kings in their last match where chasing 112, Kolkata, who were cruising at 62/2 collapsed and lost eight wickets for just 33 runs.
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It was literally a bad half an hour or 40 minutes. The guys have played Chahal many times and done well. He had a brilliant day, and we didn’t play him well at all. But you either go in thinking he’ll destroy you again, or you take him on with confidence. Hopefully, we do the latter. He’s a very, very good bowler, but before that game, he was also struggling a bit. Confidence can turn in one innings, so maybe it’ll turn our way this time,” the former England player said.
Having been in and out of the side, Moeen also admitted that he has a better perspective at this stage of his career.
“To be honest, if I was younger and still playing international cricket regularly, it would have been a lot harder. But now, it’s about mindset. I prepare like I’m playing every game. When I get the call, I’m ready. Before I came here, I didn’t expect to play too many games anyway, so playing four already is a positive from a personal point of view,” he said.
(With agency inputs)
