Sourav Ganguly seems to be quite an anti-thesis on and off the field, a fiery competitor who becomes a calm and collected veteran once the game is done.

His exuberance when his Kolkata side beat reigning champions Hyderabad seemed to have been stashed away for future use when he responded to questions after the game.
 
"We had pretty ordinary first ten overs in either innings but we managed to pull it back," Ganguly said. "We have areas that need improvement, especially the fielding. You cannot expect to drop Adam Gilchrist twice and expect to be in a winning position too often.
 
"When we were batting, we had asked Owais Shah to play out all 20 overs, since Angelo Mathews was playing shots. We though 150-160 would be a good total but they played outstanding innings.

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"We knew that if we got wickets we'd always be in with a chance. The pitch had some tennis ball bounce and several batsmen got out to that. We knew once we got the asking rate up to eight or nine an over we had a chance. But the pitch was not as difficult when Shah and Mathews were playing."
 
Asked if this was the kind of start that promised things, the Kolkata skipper responded: "We have to take it one game at a time. It is seven home and seven away games so there is a lot of cricket left."

Hyderabad skipper Gilchrist can's be blamed for looking a bit shell-shocked, having handed over the match after being in command in both innings. His reactions to the defeat pretty much reflected his disappointment.

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"We were in the box seat in both innings but we didn't finish of either aspect," the veteran Australian said after the game.

"I think we panicked a little bit when we began losing wickets. Overall, it wasn't smart cricket at all. 

"A score of 161 was gettable here and Kolkata also gave us some chances," Gilchrist said. "But they never let up and kept at it."