Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) coach Brendon McCullum was livid after his side suffered a humiliating 7-wicket defeat at the hands of Delhi Capitals (MI) at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Thursday (April 29).
It was KKR’s fifth loss in seven games this season and McCullum took his team’s top-order batsmen to task for not showing enough "intent and aggression".
While McCullum didn't mention anyone’s name, it seemed that he was venting his frustration on the 21-year-old Shubman Gill, who is having a difficult time with the bat in the ongoing IPL.
As an opener, Gill has amassed only 132 runs in 7 innings at an average of 18.85 and a strike-rate of 117.85 so far.
"It's very, very disappointing. I think as a player, you ask to be given freedom and confidence and loyalty when it comes to selection, to go out there and take the game on and try and be aggressive... and to try and make things happen for your team," McCullum said at the post-match press conference.
"That's the style of play which both myself and the captain (Eoin Morgan) have asked of our players. But unfortunately we're not quite getting that. We're certainly not getting it in the abundance that we need," he added.
Invited to bat first, KKR posted 154/6 in 20 overs on the back of Andre Russell’s unbeaten 45 off 27 balls and Gill’s 38-ball 43.
In response, Prithvi Shaw slammed 82 off 41 balls (11 fours and 3 sixes) and shared a 132-run opening stand with Shikhar Dhawan (46 off 47 balls) as DC overhauled the target with 21 balls to spare.
"What we saw from Prithvi Shaw tonight was the perfect template of how we want to play. You're not always going to be able to hit every ball for four or six, but you can have the intent to do so, particularly when you're given a free licence.
"It's very difficult if you don't play shots to score runs, and unfortunately tonight we didn't play enough shots. It's become a bit of a theme," McCullum said.
Gill’s fellow opener Nitish Rana is also struggling to score quickly in the IPL 2021, boasting a sub-par strike-rate of 122.56 and McCullum indicated that a change is on the cards.
"A saying that I've used throughout my career is that 'If you can't change a man, change the man.' So we'll probably have to make some changes and try and bring in some fresh personnel who will hopefully take the game on a bit more."
According to McCullum, powerplay overs are very vital on slow surfaces as it becomes harder to score freely during middle and death overs
"Look, on a slow surface you've really got to maximise the new ball and the fielding restrictions. One thing we have to get our heads around is that in T20 cricket, you've got to part from the old-school mentality of trying to find a boundary and then get a one.
"If you get a boundary, then look for another, and then look for another one. If you're able to do that, then the opposition bowler is under an immense amount of pressure and normally what happens then is they don't execute," the former New Zealand skipper explained what he wanted from Gill and Rana.
"It's incredibly disappointing because I've asked time and time again for us to be more aggressive and more expressive and take the game on, and we continue to not do it. So we're going to have to make some changes for sure."
(With PTI inputs)
