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New season, new hopes. But right now, I am in the den of the Lucknow Super Giants. Obviously, this was a new franchise. This franchise did well for two years, but if I am being honest, the fans must have been disappointed in the last two years. And I am with Dr. Sanjiv Goenka, the principal owner. I am sure you are more disappointed than the fans that the last two years didn't go as expected.
That's why the expectations are very high. Our last two years didn't go well. We didn't qualify. We were seventh both years. No excuse. A bad performance is a bad performance. Having said that, mistakes happen. You make mistakes, but you have to learn from them. And one has to be clear that you should not repeat that mistake again.
So last year, our shortcoming was that all our bowlers were injured. They got injured together. We didn't do enough homework to know that those bowlers are injury-prone. What is their rehab? How will it happen? What will it be? You have to take 26 players. So we said, even on your channel, that their playing 11 is a bowling playing 11, a batting playing 11. So our thinking was also somewhat like that, let's have players. God forbid, if an injury happens again, we should have players who can go into the playing 11 and perform. And that was visible in your auction as well.
I felt the transfer of Mohammed Shami was a big coup. Besides that, you snatched another player from Punjab, Josh English.
We didn't snatch him. They gave up. He came to the auction.
Meaning, you bid for him.
They later regretted it, saying they didn't read the fine print. The final details in the contract, in business, they hadn't read. But actually, I also spoke to Mayank Yadav. Mayank Yadav is fit. Mohsin is apparently fit. So suddenly, where it seemed like you wouldn't have a fast bowler to play, I feel this year you won't have a problem with fast bowling.
As we see it, it is a balanced squad. Our batting is set. Someone can succeed, someone can fail. There is no guarantee for anyone. But it seems set. Bowling, we have a good lineup. Shami, Mohsin, Mayank, Prince is bowling well. Nokia, of course, is there. Tewatia is there. Akash Singh is there. We have so many options. Varindu is hopefully coming soon. Rathi is there, Sid is there, Shabaz is there. So we are comfortable. And you may not see the same playing 11 in every game. It may change depending upon the situations, the pitch, the opposition. But we believe we have a balanced squad. We have a squad that is looking quietly confident.
When you went to the auction and when you came back, I am sure you must have made multiple 11s. You must have made them, the captain must have made them, the coach must have made them, the mentor must have made them. Have you reached close to that 11 after the auction? The ideal 11 that should be there.
Look, an ideal 11 never happens for anyone. The wish list you have, if someone asks me to make an ideal 11, I will take Abhishek, I will take Jaspit, I will take this one, I will take that one. That's not how a team is formed. But if you ask me, have we walked away happy? Yes. Are we happy from the auction to today? Have we made progress? Yes. Are we happy with the way the unit is gelling? Yes. Are we happy with what we are seeing of the team and all the players in the practice sessions? Yes. The rest, look, you have to get on the field. A mistake can happen, a good stroke can happen, anything can happen. I am not saying it's a consolation, but sometimes it also happens, Dr. Goenka, that how you start, momentum also comes with that. I know if my team is seventh, I will be very disappointed. But at times, that placing is also not a reflection of your team's value.
Look, last year our team was not such that we could have made a serious bid, honestly, because four out of your four bowlers are injured. You can win individual games on batsmen. You cannot win a tournament without bowlers. Gautam told me this in our first year, it came back to hurt us last year. But I can only say that we believe we have depth in our batting. We have a good bowling unit. It's a combination of experience, youth, pace, skill, spin. A lot of thought has gone into it. A lot of hard work has been done. We have worked on the players. We worked on the fitness. We have got a great coaching team and our fitness staff, the physios, are world-class. And we have changed. If you see, we have changed. We have improved from what we were. So I think we are comfortable.
Do you think last year Rishabh Pant was also under that pressure? Maybe we in the media create that tag, the most expensive player ever. Do you think so? Because on television, it seemed to me that at times I could see that on his face, in his actions, in his decisions, sometimes in batting, I could see that reflection. Do you think so?
Look, no captain will have all four of your bowlers. So what will he do? So you have to look at it from what he had. I personally have great confidence in Rishabh. I know you people say sometimes Rishabh will be there, won't be there. I just watch and laugh that maybe some social media sites need views. Sanjiv Goenka becomes a very happy, convenient punching bag.
Do you think that happens to you?
100%. A lot of memes are made. 100%.
But what will be the reason behind it?
I don't know the reason. I am not that much into social media.
Your team is popular, that's why.
Look, I am starting to understand about 2-5% of social media now. Until now, 90% was not understood. So I don't know what is the reason. But Sanjiv Goenka is a punching bag, right or wrong. One season doesn't judge it. It happens over a period of time. I live with my conscience. I live with myself. And I am a very secure person in my own skin. So when I make a mistake, I openly admit I made a mistake. Last year, we didn't have the team to even make a challenge for the trophy. Our team had many mistakes. Mistakes in auctions, mistakes in preparation. This year, we tried to plug those mistakes. We have realized what comfort a balanced squad gives.
Paying 8 crores for Josh English is crazy.
It's a steal. I think so. I think so.
Now, would you take Pathirana at 18 crores and Nokia at 2 crores?
I will take Nokia at 2 crores, not Pathirana at 18.
So taking Nokia gives me the ability to take English. Two players for 10 crores.
Getting Markram and Mitchell Marsh to open for both, it was a breakout season, the best season ever. Mitchell Marsh had a total of 700 runs in so many years, last year he scored 600 runs.
