‘Absence of Karthik and Mukund not a problem’

With skipper Dinesh Karthik and batting mainstay Abhinav Mukund off to the Duleep Trophy, team mentor Monty Desai confirmed that Kaushik Gandhi will lead the side on Wednesday. 

Stand-in skipper Gandhi said he was proud to be a part of the Patriots team. “I’m very proud to be a part of the team and it is a proud moment for me to be stand-in skipper. I don’t know if I can live up to Dinesh (Karthik) or Abhi’s (Abhinav Mukund) ability as a captain but then I’ll do my best and give it my best shot,” he said.

The captain said he was confident of youngsters in his team stepping up to the plate when it mattered. “It’s actually easy because the pressure is not on me. The absence of DK and Abhi is definitely going to be a huge loss. It’s a coincidence that a domestic tournament (Duleep Trophy) is going on at the same time. We have a few good players in our team who can stand up and prove themselves,” he added. 

Desai said his team is not focussed on the present rather than dwelling in the past about the players missing on the game. “We are focused on being in the present. We have a wonderful squad and have prepared very well and are only focusing on our strengths. We want to maximise our potential through that. It’s a wonderful opportunity for a lot of our young players to step up and execute their roles,” the mentor added. 

Desai emphasized the need to have wickets in hand to come out successful on the Chepauk wicket. “I think the way the first game unfolded for us we could see that keeping wickets in hand is a good strategy. That is something that we’re looking forward to. A couple of dot balls here and there doesn’t really matter. We’ll try to go deeper in the game. If you see the second game both teams fought well and took it to the super-over. They really made a game out of it,” he added.