Gautam Gambhir, who is the captain of the defending Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Kolkata Knight Riders, said that he wants his boys to forget about any "external pressures and play fearless cricket."
To Gambhir, captaining KKR is an "honour" rather than "pressure."
"It's always been an honour to lead KKR and it's not about me only. It's also about all the 23 players."
"I want the likes of Yusuf (Pathan), Manoj (Tiwary) and Bisla (Manvinder) to forget about any kind of pressure and play fearlessly. There was a lot of criticism that KKR wasn't performing up to its potential. We worked very hard and were champions last year. Now I want my boys to be fearless and express themselves out there in the middle," he said.
Terming it as a "political decision" Gambhir stressed that one or two Sri Lankan players not playing a game in Chennai would not matter a lot.
KKR has one Sri Lankan player in offie Sachitra Senanayeke.
"One or two individuals don't matter in a team. If 11 people are going in the same direction, it is a bigger threat for the opposition. In any case, we will get Senanayeke for other 15 league games. Hope that he will strike a good combination with Sunil Narine."
Gambhir also supported KKR management's decision to appoint Australian pacer Brett Lee as the Team mentor.
"I don't think there will be any additional pressure on Brett. It is better to appoint someone who is a part of the set-up rather than someone new. Also Brett has been bowling really well. He recently clocked 150 kmph during the Big Bash (for Sydney Sixers). If he can bowl at that pace in the IPL, there is nothing like it."
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