He also heaped praise on Shubman Gill, says the youngster needs a proper opening partner.
Former Indian cricketer Madan Lal wasn’t really impressed with Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) strategy to send Sunil Narine to open the innings along with young talent Shubman Gill in the ongoing 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 in the UAE.
He further went on to say that KKR captain Dinesh Karthik should bat at the top of the order as he feels the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman is the right match for the Gill to open for the franchise in the ongoing tournament.
Former cricketer also suggested Karthik to open with Gill or bat below Eoin Morgan and Andre Russell in the middle order if he does not want to see KKR suffer in the ongoing IPL 13.
Describing Gill as “a long-term prospect”, Lal said the 21-year-old would not score big runs if he doesn’t get a right opening partner, saying Narine is not able to play the big hits now, hence, the right-hander needs a proper batsman to give a strong start to the KKR.
In a recent interaction on Sports Tak, Madan Lal said: “Sunil Narine is not able to play the big hits now. It would be better if Dinesh Karthik himself opens instead of Narine so that his batting order does not go that far back. I will not open with Sunil Narine. I will have a proper batsman with Shubman Gill because in the first 6 overs even if a proper batsman comes, they will score 50-60 runs.”
He further suggested, “Dinesh Karthik has to open or he needs to bat after Morgan and Russell. His team might suffer if he tries to bat above Morgan and Russell in the middle order.”
On the young exciting talent Gill, Lal said: “Shubman Gill has not been able to make the big runs because he does not have a good opener along with him. I was noticing that when Shubman Gill was batting he was playing drives against Jofra Archer, who was bowling at 150 kph, off the front foot.”
He signed off by saying, “Normally batsmen go on the back foot when they face fast bowling. It shows that he is definitely a long-term prospect. I feel we will hear a lot about him in the coming days and the Indian team is going to get a very good player.”
(With Hindustan Times Inputs)