Shardul Thakur dished out brilliant counter-attacking innings of 68 from just 29 balls as Kolkata Knight Riders made a winning return at the Eden Gardens in the IPL on Thursday. Playing at Eden Gardens for the first time after 1437 days ( after the Covid-induced break), KKR at one stage were reeling at 89/5 before Thakur led a rearguard action with a 20-ball half-century as the hosts racked up 204/7 in 20 overs and beat Royal Challengers by 81 runs. Before Thakur arrived at No.7, KKR was going at a run rate of around 8 per over, but after his big hitting, KKR ended up galloping at more than 12 per over. With Rinku Singh (46 off 33), he stitched an entertaining 103-run wicket partnership off 47 balls.Skipper Nitish Rana was all praise for his all-rounder, and speaking at the post-match press conference, he said, "The way Shardul batted was brilliant, and the only thing I would like to say that I had thought he was capable of making an impact as a batter but today's knock was beyond expectations. What more can a captain want? To come out and play that sort of innings is outstanding." The KKR captain backed Rinku Singh, applauded how the southpaw played the role of a second-fiddle, and said, "His innings was as important as Shardul's. He held on end, and if he got out at that stage, we all know what could have happened. Of course, he can hit sixes, but I only told him to hold one end and keep playing his natural game." Still not over Suyash's debut! 😍 #CantKeepCalm pic.twitter.com/jxDBbgFlPl— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 6, 2023 During RCB's run-chase, Rana's use of slower blowers to stifle the opposition, especially with Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy in and after the powerplay, changed the course of the game and was a well-thought-out plan. "If you see the matchups, we knew Sunil has a good record against Faf (du Plessis) and Virat (Kohli). Varun has also troubled Faf. So we decided to use them upfront. The 19-year-old leg-spinner Suyash Sharma, also the Impact player for KKR, was introduced later into the attack and had a dream debut with figures of (4-0-30-3). @abhisheknayar1 @NitishRana_27 pic.twitter.com/thMhMEmOJE— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 6, 2023 "I knew Suyash would be effective, but at that stage of the game (in the powerplay overs), getting rid of the top and middle order of RCB was crucial," explained Rana. Suyash picked up the wickets of Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat, and Karn Sharma. For someone who has not played any first-class match or List A matches before, there was an air of mystery around the teenager, but Rana cleared the air and explained why he is a dangerous bowler. "Suyash is not a mystery spinner but there is an X-factor. His arm speed is very fast, and that troubles batters. His action is also not easy to pick. He is also quick in the air, and if the batter doubts picking him, then there is trouble. The more he plays, the more experience he will gain and improve." Rana also spoke on his dismissal when he got out playing a reverse sweep just after the powerplay ended in KKR's innings. "This is how I play my game and my back self to play the shots. The time was wrong to play the shot, but had we been chasing, I would have said it was wrong. But I had to attack the off-spinner because we had three left-handers to follow, and I did not want him to settle down in a rhythm. I wanted Shahbaz and Karn Sharma to bowl because it would have been easier for the lefties." He also explained the move to change KKR's opening combination twice in two games and sent Venkatesh Iyer to the top. "We used Venky at the top because we did not want too many lefties in the middle order. And he has been our opener before." Buoyed by the win, KKR is a group brimming with confidence, and their captain reiterated that their loss against Punjab in the first game could have gone either way. "We believe that the rain was beyond our control in the previous match, and the boys are convinced we could have got a positive result. We did not win the game but fell short by a small margin. We did have the confidence of winning the match." When asked if owner Shahrukh Khan had some words for him and the team after the victory, Rana said in jest, "Yes, he did, but I can't disclose it"
