Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Eoin Morgan has admitted that he has been woefully short of runs throughout the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) after his team’s 6-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Sunday (October 3) in Dubai.
However, the KKR captain was confident of finding form with the bat in the coming games of the IPL 14 in the UAE. The left-hander has managed only 111 runs in 13 games for the KKR so far this season.
On Sunday, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 6 wickets in the 49th game of the ongoing IPL 2021 to boost its chances to qualify for the playoffs along with Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Delhi Capitals (DC) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
KKR is currently placed fourth with 12 points from 13 games in the IPL 14 points table and with a positive net run-rate, they only need to win their final game against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on October 7 in Sharjah to book a playoffs berth in the ongoing IPL 2021.
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Morgan said during the post-match press conference: “Yeah, I am short of runs in this phase of the tournament, the whole tournament in general. I am very lucky to be in a position where I have been through stages like this in my career.”
He continued, “And I think the longer you go without contributing a significant score, the closer you are to actually contributing. And that's coming from experience.”
Meanwhile, the KKR skipper heaped praise on his spinners Sunil Narine (10 wickets) and Varun Chakravarthy (15 wickets) for their role in the team’s turnaround in the second phase of the IPL 2021.
Morgan said, “I think they are the two big impact players for us (Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine). We are very lucky to have them, particularly Narine. He has been a huge part of the franchise for a long time, an integral part of KKR's success. Game on the game basis, you have to look at where they can have the biggest impact in the game and you try to get them in that position.”
Praising his bowlers for restricting SRH to 115 on Sunday, the KKR skipper said: “The match against SRH was a good example; we are fortunate enough that the other guys in our bowling group bowled extremely well and that allowed us to juggle things around.”
He also lauded young opener Shubman Gill, who scored a match-winning half-century on a sluggish track against SRH on Sunday in Dubai. He noted: “I am delighted for Shubman Gill. He has shown a great amount of promise in all formats of the game. Probably over the last two IPLs, he has continued to show promise. On a tricky wicket today, he made it look easy. His true class shone through.”
Praising Tim Southee, Morgan said: “Tim's obviously had a huge impact in the side, when you miss two or three big gun players - we miss Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, and obviously Dre (Andre Russell) has been missing as well. His contribution with the ball in this phase has been brilliant.”
He added, “It's one thing contributing throughout a campaign, but I think when you look at actually when you need players to stand up, senior players to be able to do that. Tim has done that brilliantly.”
On the conditions in the UAE, he pointed out by saying: “We were here two nights ago and the ball seemed to come onto the bat. Yes, it swings early in the Powerplay and a little bit of nip, which is expected here in Dubai, but today was a little bit sluggish. Obviously, the wicket is one thing, you need to adapt to conditions, bowl well, field well, and we did that incredibly well.”
He signed off by saying, “The batsmen had to work a little bit harder (on Dubai track). I think sometimes in T20, it is nice to have that element to give an insight into the real game of cricket as opposed to the ball flying everywhere and everything in the batsmen's favor.”
(With PTI Inputs)
