IPL 7: ‘We have climbed the Mt. Everest’, says Wasim Akram

Bengaluru: While Sanjay Bangar has been the X-factor for Kings, the Knight Riders have found a ‘healer’ in Wasim Akram. By the admission of many match winners in the side, the Sultan of Swing has inspired hope and ignited self-belief in them.

As the team prepared for the final assault, the former Pakistan pacer opened up about the team he has been a part of for four seasons and their success story this year.

On the final: In T20 nobody is favourite. This ground is one of the best and the smallest and has one of the better batting pitches in the Indian circuit. I think the team with a better bowling has a chance to win and KKR has that.

We will go with a plan and with our talent, there is no doubt we will give them a tough fight. We’ve climbed the hard bit, like Mick Horn says we have climbed the Mount Everest. We just have to come down. The team which is mentally tough and relaxed team will win.

On Gambhir’s captaincy: All the credit, I reckon, if the team is doing well, has to go to the captain. Although Gambhir is not getting many runs, his style has been very attacking. We have seen most of the captains try to block runs, but Gautam goes for the wickets.

From the eighth to the 15th over, most of the teams put their part-timers, but we, on the other hand, get Sunil Narine, Morne Morkel and Shakib in. The idea is to get wickets and that is the only way you can stop runs in IPL. That is why I think KKR’s bowling has been the most economical in this IPL. And credit to Gautam for his attacking captaincy.

On Robin Uthappa’s form: He is playing some excellent cricket, the cricket of his life I would reckon. He has proper shots, doesn’t slog and looks for the bad deliveries. There are times he plays good deliveries for incredible shots like inside-out.

On benching Jacques Kallis: It was a tough decision, but he accepted it gracefully. That’s the beauty of Jacques Kallis. This guy is one of the best all-rounders the world has ever seen in any format of the game. He is a true legend.

Sitting in the dressing room, he is happy and I see him help the boys. Sitting outside, he has been giving confidence to the youngsters.

On the difference between this team and the champion class of 2012: This team is a slightly younger. Of course, we have a lot more depth in our batting. It is difficult to compare teams. I think the fielding has been exceptional this year and better than 2012.

But at the end of the day, we were champions in 2012 and are a step away this year.