We were being paralyzed a little bit by fear in first half, but we can end it right: KKR Coach Brendon McCullum

Kolkata Knight Riders didn’t have a great start to the Indian Premier League 2021. In the first leg of the tournament played in India, the KKR team managed to win only two of their seven matches. However, head coach Brendon McCullum has expressed that the team can end the tournament on a high. 

There is a lot that went wrong for KKR during the first phase. Despite having all their top players, KKR managed to have an inconsistent run. They won their opening game, but then lost four consecutive matches. They did manage another win against Punjab Kings, who were themselves struggling. The first leg ended for them with another loss against Delhi. 

“In regards to the tournament which is upcoming [the second part of IPL 2021], we can end it right,” McCullum told kkr.in.

“We can take the game on and we’re in a situation where we need things to go our way. We need to hit the ground running, challenge one another privately, support one another publicly and try and get the best out of one another in the next four-five weeks. Who knows where we can go with this,” the former New Zealand captain added. 

I wasn’t able to free the guys up enough: Brendon McCullum on the first leg of IPL 2021

KKR will begin their campaign in the second leg against Royal Challengers Bangalore on September 20 in Abu Dhabi. They have already lost their one match against RCB, which happened during the first leg. It is also worth noting that KKR will be without their star fast-bowler and overseas signing, Pat Cummins. He has been replaced by Tim Southee. 

“There were sometimes throughout the season when I just felt we were being paralyzed a little bit by fear. I wasn’t able to free the guys up enough to understand that and that’s sort of a challenge for me,” McCullum said. In order to qualify KKR would need to do something which they did way back in the 2014 season. 

After winning only two of their first seven games, KKR went on to win their last seven league matches. Not only that, they won qualifier 1 and the final against Punjab Kings to lift the trophy that season, under Gautam Gambhir. McCullum expressed that he wants his players to enjoy themselves and also said they need to play a ‘braver style of play’.