Kolkata Knight Riders have had a mixed season of the Indian Premier League so far. They have impressed and disappointed in equal measure. It reflects in their points tally also. KKR have won 5 matches out of nine and sit in the fourth position but critics have criticised their batting department.
The top-order hasn’t fired consistently while the middle-order looks feeble due to the struggles of Andre Russell. The burly West Indian hasn’t looked good with the bat and struggled to connect the ball. Without his power-hitting, KKR have had trouble getting the big scores.
Former India cricketer and current IPL commentator Aakash Chopra also feels KKR have had a problem with their batting as batsmen are not able to get going in the tournament.
“David Warner won the toss and opted to field. KKR have a problem that they just cannot get going in their batting. They are trying but it is not happening. Gill plays but plays slowly and then he gets out. Tripathi didn’t score much,” Aakash Chopra said in a video on his Youtube channel.
“Nitish Rana played a nice small cameo but he also got out after that. Russell is not scoring, that is a problem. Dinesh Karthik did a good job in his new role as a finisher.”
“KKR reached a score that was not that bad a total although not a great one because they finished strongly.”
Former captain Dinesh Karthik’s two significant innings – 58 off 29 balls against Kings XI Punjab and an unbeaten 29 off 14 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad – for Kolkata Knight Riders this year have come batting at No.5 and No.6. Anything higher than that, his scores have been 1, 6, 12, 1, and 4, proving that finishing the job’s seems to his forte in the shortest format of the game.
Stressing on the same point, former India cricketer Sanjay Manrjekar said, No.6 is where you get the best value out of DK the batsman.
“Finally the right utilisation of DK the batsman. No 6 with about 5 overs left. That’s when you get the greatest value out of him. The impact innings,” tweeted Manrjekar during KKR’s innings.
Karthik came in when KKR were 105 for 4 in 15 overs. He hit two sixes and two fours and put together an unbeaten 58-run stand with Eoin Morgan to take KKR to 163 for 5 after being asked to bat first by Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner.
Source: IPLT20.com