Captain Dinesh Karthik made efforts to ensure that dressing room morale and players bonding in the Kolkata Knight Riders camp remains fine while his team was suffering one defeat after another untill on Sunday (April 29) it clinched a 34-run victory over Mumbai Indians at the Eden Gardens. 

KKR finally broke a six-game losing streak and kept its hopes of securing a play-off berth alive. The two-time champion side has now won five of its first twelve games in the tournament and must also win its remaining two encounters in the league stage. 

"It's a high-pressure sport, a high octane tournament and you've got to make sure everybody's in a great space, give them the best chance to do well and stay healthy," Karthik was quoted as saying by India Today. "A lot of bickering and back-biting can go on in these sorts of situations. I'm very aware of it and make sure nothing like that happens'."

KKR arrived into this match having experienced widespread criticism for some of its performances in the competition thus far. There was also scrutiny over Karthik's position in the team because of his failed on-field tactics and a very disappointing season with the bat. 

"At the end of the day, it's a game. You play the best that you can. You need to keep a smile. You need to be nice to others. Everybody's trying hard. I always believe that at the end of the day it's a game. We all go back home and we need to be happy," he added. 

"I think they need to make sure they have a great experience playing with me. It shouldn't be all about, 'oh that guy was so bad when we lost'. I was very aware of that."

Kolkata Knight Riders jumped from seventh to fifth in the points table after this fruitful result. The team next plays Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on May 3.