Mumbai Indians started off their Indian Premier League title defence on the wrong note but captain Rohit Sharma said there was a lot to learn from the 41-run loss to Kolkata Knight Riders.
"It's disappointing, first game of the season. Lots to learn from this game. We will take the positives from this game, although there weren't many. I hope the guys stay positive and enjoy each other's company. It's a long tournament," Rohit said.
"They batted really well, we didn't get a wicket when we wanted and they knew with eight wickets in hand they went after the bowling. We tried our best, Malinga bowled really well and I hope the guys can turn it around as quickly as possible," he added.
"There was a fair bit of grass on the wicket, there was a bit of bounce. Odd balls were stopping and coming so it wasn't true. It played well but we didn't bat well. Still 13 more games and I hope we come back strongly."
Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir, on the other hand, boasted that his team will end up "winning most times" if it puts up a big score.
"We've got a very good bowling attack and if we put runs on the board most of the times we'll end up winning," Gambhir said.
"A quality batter like Kallis knows when to accelerate and if either of him or I stays till the 15th over we'll get a good score. We have Morne's (Morkel) pace and Narine and (Piyush) Chawla in the spin department and Vinay's (Kumar) is pretty good at the death as well," he added.
Man of the match Kallis, who has retired from Test cricket, said, "Had a good few months off. It's nice to catch up with friends and family, but I worked hard on my cricket to help Kolkata this season. There was more bounce which suited. Kept the good balls out at the start and cashed it in the death."
The South African veteran was full of praise for Morne Morkel and Sunil Narine. "Morne started great at the start with the ball and Narine was brilliant as well. I probably haven't got too many years left and I'm just looking forward to having some fun in the middle."
