A round-up of IPL news on April 30, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Apr-2014In his first four games this IPL season, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir aggregated 1 run. Against Rajasthan Royals, he redeemed himself, a little bit, with 45 off 44. However, his place in the eleven, according to assistant coach Vijay Dahiya, was never in doubt. “If you ask me, Gautam is our best batsman and there are no two ways about it that if your best batsman is not in form, it is a problem for the team. But it will be a different team when he starts scoring runs at the top. There is not a single talk about his place in the side,” Dahiya was quoted as saying by . “Let’s not forget that he is not only one of our batsmen but also our leader. He has led the team very well and we need him in the mix.”Watson’s captaincy similar to Dravid’s – Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane, one of the five players retained by Rajasthan Royals ahead of this year’s auction, has praised new captain Shane Watson for his style of captaincy. He is quite similar in his demeanour on the field to Rahul Dravid, the team’s former captain, Rahane said. “He has been wonderful. In so many ways he is very similar to Rahul as captain. Like him, Shane too is very calm in the middle and makes his decisions with a cool head,” Rahane told the IPL website. “They both have the ability to hold their nerves in pressure situations and take their own time in making the right decision.”RCB have to recover lost ground – Yuvraj
Royal Challengers Bangalore began the season with two wins, before three defeats in a row meant they slipped down the IPL points table. Yuvraj Singh, the team’s high-profile signing this year, admits that the losses were a big set-back, and the team will have to turn things around once they’re back in India. “After spending last 15 days in UAE, it’s time to come home and recover some lost ground,” Yuvraj wrote in his blog. “Losing three matches in a row is definitely a set-back, which we need to overcome very quickly. We had one terrible game against Rajasthan Royals and the other two games we just didn’t play the crucial moments well. In this format, you lose and win your battles in a very short span and unlike Test cricket or one-day cricket, you don’t have many chances to make a comeback.” The players have a couple of days off before the India leg of the tournament, Yuvraj said, and it would be important for them to come back refreshed. “Before getting back to Bangalore, we have two days to recharge our batteries and channelise our energies. Hopefully, the familiar surroundings of our home ground can make this recovery a little easier.”