Aakash Chopra voiced his criticism on Kolkata Knight Riders' batting order, which raised many eyebrows during the match against Delhi Capitals on Saturday.
Former Indian batsman Aakash Chopra voiced his criticism over the Kolkata Knight Riders' batting order in IPL 2020 so far. The KKR batting lineup has remained largely inconsistent, and the fans were particularly disgrunted with the batting positions of players during the game against Delhi Capitals on Saturday.
While the out-of-form captain Dinesh Karthik promoted himself over Eoin Morgan, batsman Rahul Tripathi was sent at number 8 - below Pat Cummins.
Chopra has said that it is "beyond my understanding" on why KKR are not utilising Eoin Morgan efficiently.
“It is beyond my understanding why KKR is not giving enough batting to Eoin Morgan," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
"Their batting order is not working at this point of time. Morgan is a runaway match-winner. If you see his record from 2019, he is batting at a strike rate of 170. And in this team also, he has been stunning in the last match as well as this match,” he said.
The side was chasing a mammoth 229-run target and came close to pulling off a miracle, even as Tripathi came to bat at number eight. Chopra opined that the Indian batsman needs to open with Shubman Gill, as th experiment with Sunil Narine for the opening slot "is not working."
“KKR could have chased down the 229-run target. You played an extra batsman in Rahul Tripathi instead of Kuldeep Yadav. But if you have played him, you should have opened with him. You are opening with Narine and that experiment is not working,” said the former Indian cricketer who was a part of KKR in the inaugural edition of the tournament.
“So, there was a problem with the batting order. Nitish Rana played well. Shubman Gill, till the time he was in the middle, played well.”
“You sent Rahul Tripathi even after Cummins. Who sends a batsman at the No.8 spot, he is an opener. You need to make him open and he will do well, he is very close to my heart. I feel he will do a good job at the top of the order with Shubman Gill."
Earlier, calls were also made by a certain section of fans to sack Dinesh Karthik as the captain of the side. With two wins in four matches, the KKR are currently fourth in the table. Their next match will be against Chennai Super Kings on October 7.
