Chennai, Sep 30 (IANS) On the ropes in the ongoing Champions League T20 tournament, Trinidad and Tobago are gearing up for a final push to stay in the hunt beginning with their match against the Chennai Super Kings Sunday.
Trinidad’s wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin, whose fumbling in a run out situation cost his team the game against Mumbai Indians last week, believes that the semi-final door is not shut despite two close defeats in a row.
‘Not really. We had two close games and the guys are still confident. We still have two games and if we have a good one against Chennai, we can get our campaign back on track,’ said Ramdin at a media conference here Friday.
Interestingly, one of T&T’s key players, Dwayne Bravo, will be turning out for the Super Kings, but it doesn’t really bother Ramdin one bit as he pointed out that his team’s other major star, Kieron Pollard, playing for Mumbai Indians, had flopped.
‘We have our plans for Bravo, but he is a good player; plays shots all around the ground. He played well in a pressure situation for Chennai the other night,’ said Ramdin referring to Bravo’s 25-ball 46 not out against Cape Cobras.
Meanwhile, Doug Bollinger, the pace spearhead of Super Kings, admitted that his team’s middle-order batting was a matter of concern.
‘Definitely. I would love to win every game by 50 runs, but it is not going to happen. Some of the Indian players have been away for a long time and we are all trying to gel. Getting out of jail is not a bad thing, but we have got things to work on,’ said Bollinger an in oblique reference to the tight finish against the Cobras.
On the Chepauk pitch that has come in for more than cursory attention due to its slowness, Bollinger, in his second season with the Super Kings, said the surface had certainly lost some of its pace after being relaid.
‘It is pretty slow compared to the past. But it doesn’t really matter, you know. It doesn’t bother me. We give it what we give it.
‘You just got to mix your pace a little bit, that is about it. It is probably more spin effective,’ he opined.
