Narine's mystery may get solved but will remain quality bowler: Gambhir

Kolkata, May 9 (IANS) Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Gautam Gambhir believes West Indies spinner Sunil Narine's mystery may get solved but he will remain a quality bowler after the latter put up a stupendous bowling effort against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter here on Saturday.

Narine returned figures of 4/19 for his side, getting rid of both openers Manan Vohra and Murali Vijay and then sending Wriddhiman Saha and Glenn Maxwell back to the dug-out at the Eden Gardens.

"I have always said he is the leader of the attack, people can say whatever they want to, saying mystery solved and brain freeze, but he is not only a mystery bowler, he is a quality bowler, the mystery will eventually get solved but he will remain a quality bowler under any circumstances," Gambhir said at the post match media conference.

"The kind of pressure he (Narine) was under, the way he handled himself has been unbelievable, the way he has made a comeback especially in today's game shows his mental toughness," he said.

Asked if the team would be likely to believe they have made it to the play-offs, Gambhir was quick to say: "We are not thinking on those lines, we still have a lot of tournament to play. A champion side thinks of winning each and every game and that's what makes them champions. We do not want to lack concentration thinking we are there already." 

Gambhir also did not dwell much on the six catches that his side spilled while fielding saying it was just an "off-day" on the ground.

With the win the Knights' go top of the leader board with 15 points from 12 games and Gambhir insisted they would try and look to finish in the top two.

"It feels nice (going atop the table), but we should try and finish in the top two, keep playing good cricket and try and win as many games as we can," he said.