Chennai, April 9 (IANS) World Cup hero and Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir admitted to a serious error of judgement attempting a second run off a misfield as his dismissal eventually resulted in his team losing the opening Indian Premier League (IPL) match to Chennai Super Kings by two runs here Friday.
"It was disappointing that I got run out. But these things happen. We could have won this game, if we had our nerves."
"It was an error in judgment and I should have stayed till the end. But it happened. We take lot of positives from this match and hope we do not make such mistakes in the remainder of the tournament," he said after the game.
Until Gambhir's suicidal run out, beaten by a direct hit, the Kolkata Knight Riders appeared to be in with a chance, chasing a target of 154, but his dismissal had a domino effect as wickets fell in a heap thereafter.
Gambhir, who held himself back in the batting order, also admitted that the Chennai Super Kings' total of 153 was defendable given the fact that they had three quality spinners - Ravichandran Ashwin, Shadab Jakati and Suraj Randiv - in their ranks.
"I thought my bowlers did a great job although we dropped three catches initially to restrict them to 150-odd. But, 20-20 is a matter of finishing and we did not do it."
"We tried our best. We played some good cricket in this game. Lots of positives were there. We bowled well despite fielding badly initially. It is just start of the tournament and we should be right on track in the next game," he said.
Talking about Jacques Kallis who top scored for Kolkata with a half-century, Gambhir said: "He is such a useful player and hopefully he can continue to contribute more in the coming matches."
Man of the Match Anirudha Srikkanth, who anchored the Chennai Super Kings innings with 64, expressed satisfaction at his performance.
"I personally feel that 20-20 is a momentum game and if you pick up quickly, you can shine. I really wanted to open for the team. I did tell them that I will put my hand up if there is a chance for me."
"If you stay calm and watch the ball, you can surely do well on this wicket. There was no specific role for me. It was first game of the season and I was told to play to my natural abilities," he said.
Anirudha said the ball tended to skid off the pitch in the latter half of the innings and it meant that a total in the region of 160 would be par for the course.
"It was tricky kind of wicket. In the middle overs, I thought 165 or so would be a good target. Initially, I was very much in control but as wicket got slower, I could have probably got 10-15 runs more."
"I am not really looking at the future. Most importantly, I want to enjoy my cricket and I want to enjoy this IPL season. I am just getting older and bound to get little more matured. I am on the right side of this track," he said.