'Imagine winning the trophy after two wins in seven games' - KKR reveals Brendon McCullum's pep talk ahead of UAE leg

Kolkata Knight Riders have made an incredible turnaround in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2021 to enter the final. They will now face Chennai Super Kings in the final on October 15 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Ahead of the summit clash, KKR shared a video that depicted what head coach Brendon McCullum had told the team before the UAE leg began. 

When the 2021 season started back in India, KKR was failing to find their feet in this edition. They lost five out of their seven matches and were coming to the second leg with only two wins. This meant their task to ensure qualification was quite difficult. However, against all odds, KKR under the leadership of McCullum and skipper Eoin Morgan managed to pull off a miracle.

They won five of their next seven league games in the UAE and managed to sneak past Mumbai Indians’ net run rate to become the fourth-placed side to enter the playoffs. After that, they beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (in the eliminator) and Delhi Capitals (in the Qualifier 2) to set up their final date with CSK. 

We have got nothing to lose, that makes us dangerous: Brendon McCullum to KKR 

In the video shared by KKR, McCullum can be heard giving an inspirational speech to the squad of players. The amazing turnaround experienced by KKR has been on the back of some inspired performances from some of their key players like Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine, Shubman Gill, Varun Chakravarthy, Lockie Ferguson and others. 

“Imagine things work out. And in five weeks, we’re standing there with the trophy after being two wins from seven games. Imagine that journey. Imagine the stories that you’ll get to tell, the experiences you go to share. That’s what’s in front of us. That should enthuse us, excite us. We have got nothing to lose, lads and that makes us dangerous,” McCullum said to the KKR squad ahead of the UAE leg of the IPL. 

Tonight's our 𝙩𝙧𝙮𝙨𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙮! 💜#KKR #CSKvKKR #AmiKKR #KorboLorboJeetbo #আমিKKR #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/X0u50MHBR0

— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) October 15, 2021

2021 will be the franchise’s third appearance in a season finale. On both occasions when they made it to the final, they ended up winning the title. Interestingly enough, in 2012, they faced CSK in the final in Chennai and won their maiden title. In 2014, they beat Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) to clinch their second title. Both the teams were led by Gautam Gambhir with Trevor Bayliss being the head coach.