Eoin Morgan doesn’t want the word “authority” to be associated with a captain. The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper believes it is more important for him to gain the trust of his teammates than trying to stamp his authority on his fellow teammates.
In a video released by the franchise ahead of their fourth game of the season, the 2019 World Cup-winning skipper likened the word “authority” to war movies, saying it makes him laugh when someone associates it with cricket. The England skipper added that he will try to be a good leader who can simply ‘guide’ his players in the right direction.
Eoin Morgan: Every Captain Is Different And To Be The Best One Has To Build Trust
Former Kolkata Knight Riders captain Dinesh Karthik revealed his thought process before handing over the KKR captaincy to Eoin Morgan mid-way through the last season of IPL held at UAE. Asked what was playing on his mind before he decided to hand over the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captaincy to Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik said he wanted to give a fair chance to the England international.
“Every captain is different. The best version of myself is just to be myself. And I operate in a certain way. When the word “authority” is associated with a captain, it makes me laugh. Because it makes me feel like we are watching a war movie or doing something with guns. We play a non-contact sport. So you don’t need to stamp your authority. You need to build trust, be a good leader. If you can do that then that allows you to impart the knowledge to guide the team and that’s what I’ll be trying to do,” said Eoin Morgan.
Eoin Morgan’s KKR placed 5th in the points table after 3 games
With 1 win and 2 losses, KKR are placed 5th in the points table so far in ongoing IPL 2021. They started their campaign on a winning note by defending 188 against Sunrisers Hyderabad win ning by 10 runs. However, since then, their middle-order problems have come to the fore and resulted in back-to-back losses against Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The much-vaunted trio of Dinesh Karthik, Eoin Morgan and Andre Russell are yet to win them a game with the bat this season. Shakib Al Hasan, who was expected to provide more stability with the bat, hasn’t fired either. Questions have also been raised about some of Eoin Morgan’s on-field tactics.
As seen last season, poor starts in the tournament can leave franchises under too much pressure during the final games of the league stage. KKR would like to shrug off the inconsistency and build on the promise of their leader’s words when they take on Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) suffered a 38-run defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their Indian Premier League 2021 (IPL) match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday on the back of explosive half-centuries from RCB’s Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers. Glenn Maxwell made a 49-ball 78, his second fifty of the season, while AB de Villiers clubbed an unbeaten 34-ball 76.
Against Mumbai Indians, chasing 153 for the win, KKR were cruising nicely at 104 for 2 in the 13th over and were looking like the more likely side to win. The equation came down to 31 off the final five overs with all-rounders Shakib Al Hasan and Andre Russell at the crease. However, Krunal Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Trent Boult bowled brilliantly at the death to win it for Mumbai as the last 3 overs saw only 11 runs with 2 wickets.
Defending a target of 188 for victory, KKR restricted SRH to 177 for 5 in 20 overs to win the match and collect 2 important points from their campaign opener in Chennai. The win was Kolkata Knight Rider’s 100th in the IPL.
KKR Predicted XI vs CSK: Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik, Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Lockie Ferguson/ Sunil Narine, Harbhajan Singh/ Shivam Mavi, Pat Cummins, Kuldeep Yadav/ Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna.