Former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Gautam Gambhir believes contemporary captain Dinesh Karthik hasn't yet got his position right in his team's batting line-up in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.
After his 30 in KKR's campaign opener versus Mumbai Indians (MI), Karthik has had three successive failures. The 35-year-old is a regarded force in T20 cricket but his willow hasn't so far produced the sort of goods expected of him as a leader.
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Gambhir thinks Karthik should move down to No.6 and let in-form Eoin Morgan move up the order, apart from also keeping explosive all-rounder Andre Russell ahead of him. While Russell's promotion to No.4 hasn't yet paid dividends for KKR, Morgan has been in brilliant form and should definitely be utilised better.
Morgan (44) batted magnificently in the loss against Delhi Capitals (DC) in Sharjah on Saturday (October 3) in the chase of 229 where Karthik made only 6 runs. Rahul Tripathi (36) also looked in terrific form at No.8 and Gambhir feels he should replace struggling opener Sunil Narine (3) in a rejigged KKR top six.
“Rahul Tripathi goes up the order, Dinesh Karthik plays at no 6, not before Morgan and not before Russell as well. Probably Sunil Narine goes to bat at 8 or 9. If Morgan bats no 4 and Russell at 5 and Dinesh Karthik to follow,” Gambhir told ESPNcricinfo.
Karthik's tactics too disappointed Gambhir, as he pointed out the ill-advised use of finger-spinner Varun Chakravarthy (1/49) in the 19th over of DC's innings. The over went for 20 runs and the opposition could take their score to impregnable proportion.
"Your best bowlers need to ball the 18th, 19th and 20th over, unfortunately it didn’t happen. Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine — if a spinner has to bowl. Even Mavi, he did a fabulous job in the previous games and so did Andre Russell. You have to got to give your best bowlers," he said.
"Yes Varun Chakravarty did bowl well in the first few overs but you cannot expect a young spinner to be bowling the 19th over and that too in Sharjah, probably it was a miscalculation."
Unlike KKR, DC found a hero in the death-overs in their overseas recruit Anrich Nortje (3/33). That, Gambhir felt, created a difference of at least 20-25 runs at the end.
“It is never finished till it is finished, that’s what we saw in Sharjah. These are too many runs, probably, 20-25 runs more than what KKR was expecting."
“It was the brilliance of (Anrich) Nortje, just backing himself which actually changed the fortune of the match,” he said.
Gambhir also lauded DC skipper Shreyas Iyer (88*) for leading from the front with a terrific knock in the first half.
"We keep talking about how he plays spin but today he showed that he can dominate fast bowlers as well," he said.
