Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar expressed his disappointment at Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) following their defeat against Delhi Capitals (DC) in the match 25 of IPL 2021.
Kolkata Knight Riders suffered a 7-wicket loss against Delhi Capitals in their seventh match of IPL 14 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
Asked to bat first, KKR didn’t have a great start with the bat as they lost opener Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi early and later found themselves struggling at 82/5 in the 13th overs on a good batting surface.
However, a vicious finish by Andre Russell, who scored unbeaten 45 off 27 balls, propelled Eoin Morgan-led side to a competitive total of 154 for 6 at the end of their innings.
Defending the target, KKR bowlers didn’t have any answers to the carnage by DC openers Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan. The duo stitched 132 runs for the opening partnership and helped their side chase the target with 21 balls to spare.
Talking to Star Sports, former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar claimed that a turnaround from this position will be difficult for KKR because they lack 'class' in the batting order. He added that he would promote Dinesh Karthik or Rahul Tripathi in the order to solve some of the issues.
“It’s difficult, isn’t it? (Turnaround). To be honest, they don’t have too many classy batsmen. I don't know how many in the dug-out they can look to and say ‘why don’t you come in and bat?
If you have a look at their batting, apart from Shubman Gill, and Morgan himself, there is no class. Apart from Andre Rusell down at 5 or 6 and Dinesh Karthik I would look at promoting Karthik up the order or Rahul Tripathi up the order,”Sunil Gavaskar told Star Sports.
Gavaskar said that sending Sunil Narine at 4 or 5 is waste of time and space as it doesn’t make any sense. He added that KKR doesn’t have anybody who can play an impact in the middle overs.
“Sunil Narine, at 4 or 5, is a waste of time, waste of space. It doesn’t make any sense having him there. If you want to have Narine, have him at the top of the order where can throw his bat around, and connect a few.
“KKR’s problem is that they haven’t got anybody in that 3, 4 or 5 who can play an impact inning. That is making a big difference in the side,” he said.
KKR are currently placed at the fifth position in the points table with four points from seven games. The side will next face Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Narendra Modi Stadium on 3rd May
(Star Sports inputs)
