Andre Russell missed few games in the last season for KKR due to knee injury.
Former Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir feels that Kolkata Knight Riders need to find a good backup for explosive West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell and said that he doubts that Russell will be able to play 14 games because of his injury concerns.
With less than one week remaining for IPL 2021 auction, all franchises including the two-time champions, Kolkata Knight Riders have already come out with their list of retained and released players and will look to conjure their best squad ahead of the 14th edition of the tournament.
Scrutinizing the KKR options ahead of the auction, former Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir feels that two-time champions need to find a backup for Andre Russell because of his injury concerns and added that he doubts Russell playing all 14 games in the upcoming edition of the IPL.
IPL 2021: Kolkata Knight Riders - List of players retained and released
"One good thing is that they did not release too many players after not that successful season. KKR, they don’t need to fill a lot of gaps but they actually need a backup for Andre Russell because he has got serious injury issues.
“I doubt he will be able to play 14 games. Yes, you do get fit for IPL, that’s his priority at the moment but again, you need a back up for someone like him, especially given question mark over Sunil Narine’s action which was there the last time around as well," Gautam Gambhir said on Star Sports.
Gambhir said he doesn't see much class in the KKR's batting lineup except Shubman Gill and Dinesh Karthik. However, according to Gambhir, Karthik batting lower down the orders makes it difficult for him to have much impact in the game.
"Couple of players here and there. Apart from Shubman Gill, I don’t see much class in that batting. Dinesh Karthik - yes, he can hurt you very badly in T20 formats but he bats really low down the order. And when you talk about him being a finisher, you can be a finisher batting at No. 3 as well which probably Karthik has done in his IPL career,"
IPL 2021: Kolkata Knight Riders appoint England's Nathan Leamon as strategic consultant
Gambhir further said that the franchise needs to invest in good domestic players and added that there are not many gaps to fill for KKR but they need some options.
"Even in the last season you see, it was their Indian batting that didn’t click. There were times when Shubman Gill looked really good. Nitish Rana contributed a bit. Karthik had a bad run in the last season but then how many players are available? So, let's see. There are probably not many gaps to fill but they need some options." he concluded.
Andre Russell however, has been one of the mainstays for the Kolkata-based franchise scoring 1459 runs for the franchise since joining it in 2014.
However, he has been hampered due to injury concerns for the last few years. The Eoin Morgan-led KKR side would be worried about the same and will be eyeing for a like-for-like replacement for the big-hitting all-rounder in the upcoming IPL 2021 auction.