Confident of getting best out of team: Dinesh Karthik

KOLKATA: With less than a week to go for the start of Indian Premier League Season XI, newly-appointed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Dinesh Karthik asserted that the team's first target will be to make it to the play-offs.
The two-time champions will kick-start their campaign at home against Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Eden Gardens on April 8.
"There will be expectations from me as a leader. Being the captain, there will be pressure for sure. At this stage of my career, I am confident that I can handle the pressure and get the best out of the team. My team's first target will be to reach the play-offs, that's the least we can expect," Karthik said on the sidelines of team's jersey launch function at a city hotel on Sunday.
The 32-year-old, who last month blasted an 8-ball 29 to steer India to thrilling victory over Bangladesh in the T20 tri-series final, admitted that it will be a huge task to match the success of former KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir.
Gambhir led the Kolkata-based side to two titles in 2012 and 2014 and play-offs in 2011, 2016 and 2017.
"What Gambhir has done for KKR in past few seasons is phenomenal. He has set a benchmark," Karthik acknowledged.
Karthik, however, hinted that he would bat higher up the order for KKR. "I will bat in at different position (compared to his slot in the Indian line-up). I don't think I will treat myself any differently. Everybody is here to do their best and I'm no different. Everybody has a role to play. IPL is all about dealing with tricky situations," asserted Karthik, who has turned out for five different IPL franchisees - Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians, Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils and Gujarat Lions before being picked up by KKR at the auction his year for Rs 7.4 crore.
KKR CEO Venky Mysore stated that the franchise is not worried about missing the services of Australian pace spearhead Mitchell Starc, who has been ruled out of the tournament with a leg injury, adding that a replacement will be named on Monday.
"Injuries do happen, it's beyond anyone's control. The IPL authorities will announce the replacement on Monday," he said.
However, with KKR's prime target South African pacer Morne Morkel pulling up injured in the ongoing fourth Test in Johannesburg on Sunday, KKR may have to look beyond him for fill Satrc's shoes.
KKR to play hard and fair
KKR head coach Jacques Kallis on Sunday expressed his concern about the ball-tampering incident in South Africa involving Australia and said it was a wake-up call for international cricket.
Cricket Australia banned then skipper Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner for one year while Camerom Bancroft was suspended for nine months after all three admitted their roles in the ball-tampering issue in the third Test.
"I think there has been a lot of talk in the media about this incident in past few days. It has taken too much of everyone's time. It's just made players around the world aware that they have to be careful of what they are doing," Kallis said.
"What I will be impressing upon my players is that we must play the game in right spirit, play hard and fair. It's pretty much how I would like to see KKR play and that's how we have played in the past," the 42-year-old former South African all-rounder asserted.