In the IPL 2021 auction, Kolkata Knight Riders surprised everyone by bidding successfully for veteran India spinner Harbhajan Singh. Harbhajan, 40, has not played international cricket since 2015 and doesn’t play domestic cricket anymore.
He was part of Mumbai Indians from 2008-2017 and then played for Chennai Super Kings from 2018-2020. CSK parted ways with Harbhajan before the IPL 2021 auction, and it was assumed that the 40-year-old tweaker might go unsold in the auction.
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However, KKR got Harbhajan for his base price, making the only bid on him. Captain Eoin Morgan spoke about the addition of the experienced spinner to the squad and the benefits of the same.
"I think adding Harbhajan to our squad has strengthened our spin department. If you look at our spin department, on paper it is one of the best in the tournament and that is factual. We have to play in Chennai and it can turn there, it can raise the eyebrows of our spinners there. If we do well in the tournament, our spinners would have bowled well,” he said during a virtual press conference on Wednesday.
Morgan was also asked about KKR pacer Prasidh Krishna, who made his India debut recently in the ODI series against England.
"After Prasidh's debut, on the way back after the toss, I went and congratulated him. For me, debuts are not entirely just about the player, it is about their families, friends, and the journey the player has been on. So, it is a celebration of that achievement of the recognition of the stardom of your next journey and it was great to see Prasidh represent India and do well on top of that,” Morgan said.
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Eoin Morgan, who took over the captaincy from Dinesh Karthik midway into the IPL 2020 tournament in UAE, also spoke about the batting order of the team in the upcoming IPL 2021 edition. KKR faces Sunrisers Hyderabad in their first match on April 11 in Chennai.
“Last year, we saw the versatility within our middle order and the flexibility to promote myself, DK, or Sunil. If we play well, there will be a lot of teams that will not enjoy playing against us. We need to make the right call in when to play the best hand and that is one thing we learnt from the last year,” he concluded.
(ANI inputs)
