He also questioned Eoin Morgan and Rahul Tripathi's batting positions against DC.
Former Indian opener-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra has criticized Dinesh Karthik-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) think-tank after the two-time IPL champions’ 18-run defeat in the 16th match of the ongoing IPL 2020 against Delhi Capitals (DC) on Saturday (3 October) in Sharjah.
Despite having some of the world-class batters and young guns at the side, KKR failed to make their best possible utilization in the ongoing IPL 2020 so far in the UAE, resulting in the franchise is struggling to make a mark in the tournament, winning only 2 games of their 4 outings in the tournament.
In the 16th match of the IPL 2020 against Delhi Capitals, the KKR found themselves in deep trouble and eventually suffered an 18-run defeat, thanks to captain Karthik’s poor decision making in Sharjah.
The KKR’s batting order has been the focal point ever since the tournament began in the UAE, as the franchise’s all batting experiments have failed in the IPL 13 so far while their strategies in their last game against the DC received a lot of criticism from the fans and experts.
Chasing the massive 229 against DC, the out-of-form captain Karthik promoted himself over the in-form batsmen Eoin Morgan (44) and Rahul Tripathi (36). He sent England captain at No.6 while Rahul at No. 8, surprisingly below Pat Cummins, despite this, they kept KKR in the contest with their fireworks, adding 78 runs in just 30 balls before KKR fell short by 18 runs against the DC.
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The move didn’t go down well with Chopra like other cricketers and fans as the commentator slammed the KKR’s decision-making while saying it is “beyond my understanding” on why the franchise isn’t utilizing Morgan proficiently in the ongoing IPL 2020.
Chopra said in his Youtube channel: “Their batting order is not working at this point in time. Morgan is a runaway match-winner. If you see his record from 2019, he is batting at a strike rate of 170. And in this team also, he has been stunning in the last match as well as this match.”
Pointing out KKR’s problem with the batting order, the former batsman said the team should have chased down the target against Capitals if Tripathi was played as an opener with Shubman Gill.
He further explained, “KKR could have chased down the 229-run target. You played an extra batsman in Rahul Tripathi instead of Kuldeep Yadav. But if you have played him, you should have opened with him. You are opening with Narine and that experiment is not working. So, there was a problem with the batting order. Nitish Rana played well. Shubman Gill, till the time he was in the middle, played well.”
Chopra signed off by saying, “You sent Rahul Tripathi even after Cummins. Who sends a batsman at the No.8 spot, he is an opener. You need to make him open and he will do well, he is very close to my heart. I feel he will do a good job at the top of the order with Shubman Gill.”
(With Hindustan Times Inputs)