Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen sees shades of the title-winning Rajasthan Royals aspect of 2008 in Gujarat Titans, who’ve constantly discovered methods to win matches within the ongoing IPL season.
The former swashbuckling batter feels the brand new entrants, just like the 2008 RR aspect beneath the late Shane Warne, aren’t the most effective group on paper however have a “great mentality”.
The Titans, led by India all-rounder Hardik Pandya, have emerged because the “team to beat” in solely their maiden season. They are perched on prime of the factors desk, having misplaced only one sport in eight outings.
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— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) April 30, 2022
“At the moment, it looks like Gujarat Titans are going to be difficult to stop in the IPL. I didn’t see them being at the top of the table when I first saw their squad, but they are on a roll,” Pietersen wrote for Betway.
“It reminds me of Rajasthan Royals when they won the title under Shane Warne in 2008 – they weren’t the best side on paper but everybody knew what they were doing and they had a great mentality,” he added.
The Titans, who seemed skinny on sources within the run-up to the season, have had completely different gamers successful video games for them.
“They are constantly discovering methods to win, whether or not from , middling or unhealthy place in video games. When you will have that successful mentality, it turns into very troublesome to interrupt.
“They’re not inhibited. They’re just doing what feels right instinctively. Look at Rashid Khan when he got them over the line against Sunrisers Hyderabad the other night. He just had this positive attitude and was able to pull it off.”
It’s only a horrible state of affairs: Pietersen on KKR
In a bid to search out the proper mixture, Kolkata Knight Riders have used 19 gamers in 9 video games this season and Pietersen feels it’s “far too many”, including that the previous champions’ dressing room is stuffed with damaging vitality.
KKR have used 4 completely different opening mixtures on this version however that didn’t bear fruit because the group suffered its fifth loss on the trot earlier this week to lie seventh on the factors desk.
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— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 30, 2022
Skipper Shreyas Iyer and pacer Tim Southee have additionally admitted that chopping and altering isn’t supreme however the former champions haven’t any different possibility.
“I do know that Mumbai Indians are having a shocker, however KKR are additionally in a dreadful method. They received three of their first 4 video games and have completely misplaced it since then.
“They’ve used 19 players so far, which is far too many. For a franchise as big as them, it’s just a horrible state of affairs. That is a dressing room full of the opposite energy to Gujarat: negative, negative, negative.” Pietersen feels the previous champions lack the “out of the box, innovative thinking” that led them to the finals final season.
“Last year, that run to the final was defined by out-of-the-box thinking. They had their analyst, Nathan Leamon, front and centre, sending signals out to the middle, and they seemed really innovative.”
