EAST LONDON: Kolkata Knight Riders captain Brendon McCullum admits that his team now needs a lot of things to go its way if it is to make the semifinals of the DLF Indian Premier League 2009. “We haven’t managed to come on top of those close games and find ourselves sitting at the bottom of the table now, ” he said.

Excerpts from Brendon McCullum’s press conference

On the widening gap between KKR and the other teams: In terms of results, it is. In terms of our ability, I don’t think so. Anytime we can take the three games that we have played, as tight as that they have been. You take it that close you know that your team is not too far off the beat. On a different day, in a different year, things like that could go your way and you could end up winning all three games and sitting somewhere near the top of that ladder. We haven’t managed to come on top of those games and find ourselves sitting at the bottom of the table now, needing a lot of things to go our way, in order to make the semi-finals.

On having five off days and if something is wrong in the dressing room: I thought we played some good cricket during those times as well. Talking about the competition, we have got some of the greatest players in the game at the moment participating in it. So if you are not quite at your best for the entire game, someone can take the game away from you. And that’s we have encountered in a number of games so far. We have got close, we haven’t played to our absolute maximum ability that we can do. But I think we have played pretty well at times. We just haven’t been able to get across the line in tight situations, The team dynamics and team culture is still very strong, as strong as it can be. The guys are still sticking together and still trying to enjoy their cricket with each other. It’s hard when results don’t go your way, but I certainly can’t ask for anything more in terms of the dressing room.

On the one thing missing in the dressing room: Winning. It’s hard for a team when you are not getting the result at the end of the game. It hurts more when you lose than when you feel win that’s for sure. You tend to look inside and hope that things can go your way. I can’t ask for more from the guys, they are giving all they can. They are staying tight as a group and trying hearts out in every game. I think you have seen them lifting their intensity as a group, you have seen lifting their attitude towards winning. They are just trying as hard they probably can. We can’t get ourselves across the line at the moment. It has got nothing to do with any comments in the dressing room. That’s for sure.

On losing to Mumbai Indians again: It sort of feels like someone keeps stealing our wallet. How close we get in these games and we can’t quite get across the line, I thought we played a lot better today. I thought the way we were on the field was as desperate as what I have seen us play all through the tournament. I thought the bowlers bowled pretty well, until the last couple of overs. Duminy played exceptionally well, probably got them to score that was probably 10 to 15 runs more than what they deserved leading up to that stage. Even after losing couple of early wickets, I still thought the partnership between Morne and Hodgy really got us into the game. We lost the wicket at a key time and were not able to gain ascendancy, going into the last few.

On batting so low down the order: I wasn’t initially going to bat that low. But with circumstances changing, with the nature of a good partnership being put together felt Lucky…Laxmi would be able to come in and take full advantage of their fifth bowler. He is a very good hitter of spin bowling or medium-pace. I thought the way Sachin held back the fifth bowler probably negated that move. And in the end to have Malinga bowl that second last over proved a masterstroke.

On his conversation with the umpires before the start of the 19th over: One of the guys (Graham Napier) had a flight to catch. They were asking if they can take him off and get another player out there. Obviously they needed our approval or they would have to field out there with 10 players. Once we found out the reason was, we said he could go and they could bring a replacement.

On whether Chris Gayle will play the next game: I am not entirely sure. I am hoping he is going to play one more game.

On why best death overs bowler in South Africa, Charl Langeveldt is not playing: We can only play four overseas players at once. So I guess it’s kind of tough. At some stage in this tournament he will get a game. He is also not playing international cricket at the moment. There are a couple of guys around the world who are good at death bowling. Malinga is probably the best at it when he gets it right, it’s incredibly hard to hit. But Charl. if he gets an opportunity, I am sure he will do very well for us too.

- Knight Riders, News Updates