Credit to KKR management: Karthik

“Credit to the franchisee. It picked a lot of under-19 players. They are really skilled players. It's little harsh on him (Gill). The number of times, he's been able to hit boundary off the first ball. That boy is special,” Karthik said at the post-match presentation.

“I don't want to hype it up and put extra pressure on him. I can see a lot of years of India Blues in him. I picked it up early, that we can bowl a lot of spin on this wicket. Our bowlers are so confident. They wanted to bowl. 

You need to be pushing boundaries. He (Narine) is a thorough all-rounder. Provides impetus at the top and also bowls the pressure overs. He's a great player to have in the team,” the KKR captain added.

KKR who had primarily pushed Gill at No 7 for most of the matches was promoted in absence of an injured Nitish Rana as he along with skipper Dinesh Karhik sealed the chase effortlessly in an unbeaten 83-run stand.

"He is a special talent and he proved it (on Thursday night). In these kind of tournaments, a comprehensive win is always good for the morale of the team," KKR spinner Piyush Chawla said at the post-match news conference as it next plays the Mumbai Indians on May 6. 

Chawla said it's the team combination that had brought him down at no 7 with Rana doing well in the middle order.

"It's a team game so team comes first. But Nitish got injured and we needed somebody... Gill played the role beautifully." Chawla said his side is not taking Mumbai Indians lightly even as the defending champion sits at the bottom of the table. "If you see Mumbai Indians they have proved it in the IPL. 

They may be at the bottom right now but they can be even more dangerous. We have to play good cricket to come on top."

Shubman was happy to bat up the order. “Obviously I am pleased to have been promoted to number 4 today (Thursday). We were just talking (himself and DK) that we need to rotate the strike in the middle overs, it was crucial to see off the spinners. 

It was not really to target him (Asif), we played according to the merit - if the balls were there, we just went for it. KKR crowd is the best crowd, they always support us. It has been a really great experience so far and when you are coached by Kallis and Katich, you have so much to learn from them,” said Shubman.