IPL 2019 | Teams find it hard to perform against KKR at Eden, believes Jacques Kallis

Two times Champions Kolkata Knight Riders have had a good start to the season and found themselves with four wins in five games before they travelled to Chennai for a top of the table clash. A defeat there meant that KKR had to settle for second place on the table at least for the time being. While they have lost two and won two games away from home, their home form has been exceptional. Playing against Kings XI Punjab and title contenders Sunrisers Hyderabad, the Kolkata team was able to secure convincing wins on both occasions. 

This fact is not lost on head coach Kallis who praised the home crowd for their support in games. The South African went as far as to say that their crowd was like an extra fielder on the field. 

"The good news is that we have a couple of home games now and the reality is that other teams find it hard to perform at their best against us at the Eden Gardens. As I have said many times, the support of the crowd is like having an extra fielder,” Kallis wrote in a column for TOI.

"We didn’t do ourselves justice in the last game against Chennai but that can happen from time to time. It’s hard to be at your best at the end throughout the tournament, particularly at the end of a run of away matches. Perhaps some of us were distracted by thoughts of going home.

It is easy to think his approach to batting is ‘high risk’ and impulsive, but such a run of consistency would be impossible if he was just swinging at everything.

Kallis, on Andre Russell

"We also have a lengthy break after the next two games. If we can go into the short break with another couple of wins, we’ll be well placed to push for a top-two spot in the second half of the tournament." 

While KKR have not come out of second gear so far, a major reason for their success is the performance of Andre Russell. The Windies star has been performing at an incredibly high level in this IPL with his numbers looking like something you would see in video games. With 257 runs in just 121 balls, Russell is averaging at an incredible 128.50 in six matches so far. 

While Russell’s batting might look like “T20 slogging”, Kallis pointed out that the idea was an oversimplification. The KKR head coach explained that if it was as simple as blindly slogging the ball, Russell would not have been able to consistently score the way he is this season.

"It is easy to think his approach to batting is ‘high risk’ and impulsive, but such a run of consistency would be impossible if he was just swinging at everything. He actually has a finely-tuned method and understands his game and technique superbly. Bowlers just need to work out where to bowl to him now because he can't, actually, hit every ball for four or six — despite how it looks,” he added.

"The most remarkable aspect of Andre Russell’s tournament so far has been the consistency of his batting. It is hard enough to score runs on a regular basis but to do so in the style he bats is incredible.

"Russell was at the heart of the wins but he’ll be the first person to tell you it’s a team game. All in all it was an excellent road trip with some hard fought and valuable victories in the two weeks we were away from home. We played some smart, thinking cricket and made a lot of good decisions at vital times," Kallis added.