Gautam Gambhir, who led Kolkata Knight Riders in their two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014 believes current skipper Dinesh Karthik should bat after Eoin Morgan and Andre Russell besides demanding Sunil Narine to be demoted from the top of the order.
Dinesh Karthik has failed to reach double-digit scores in the last successive games and has come under the scanner for his poor performance and tactics as a captain.
Dinesh Karthik. Image Credit: Getty Images.
Dinesh Karthik Should Not Play Before Eoin Morgan And Andre Russell:
Gautam Gambhir:
Apart from a 23-ball 30 coming at no 3 against Mumbai Indians against whom KKR lost, Dinesh Karthik has failed to produce any significant score despite batting ahead of Eoin Morgan so far in the tournament.
The wicket-keeper batsman scored 6 after coming on to bat at no 5 against Delhi Capitals on Saturday even as Eoin Morgan (44 off 18) and Rahul Tripathi (36 off 16) raised hopes of a successful chase after batting at no 6 and 8 respectively.
“Rahul Tripathi goes up the order, Dinesh Karthik plays at no 6, not before Morgan and not before Russell as well. Probably Sunil Narine goes to bat at 8 or 9. If Morgan bats no 4 and Russell at 5 and Dinesh Karthik to follow,” Gambhir told ESPNcricinfo.
The former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir also criticized Dinesh Karthik for miscalculating by giving the 19th over to spinner Varun Chakravarthy (1/49) as it yielded 20 runs.
“Your best bowlers need to ball the 18th, 19th and 20th over, unfortunately it didn’t happen.”
“Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine — if a spinner has to bowl. Even Mavi, he did a fabulous job in the previous games and so did Andre Russell.”
Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti And Dinesh Karthik
“You have to got to give your best bowlers,” he said.
“Yes Varun Chakravarty did bowl well in the first few overs but you cannot expect a young spinner to be bowling the 19th over and that too in Sharjah, probably it was a miscalculation.”
KKR batsmen started well in their chase of 229 but lost regular wickets. Despite Nitish Rana top-scoring with 58 and Eoin Morgan and Rahul Tripathi providing a late flourish, KKR did not look comfortable chasing such a steep target.
Gautam Gambhir: Delhi Scored 20-25 Runs Extra
Gautam Gambhir said KKR gave away at least 20-25 runs extra at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium which has shorter boundaries.
“It is never finished till it is finished, that’s what we saw in Sharjah. These are too many runs, probably, 20-25 runs more than what KKR was expecting.”
“It was the brilliance of (Anrich) Nortje, just backing himself which actually changed the fortune of the match,” he said referring Nortje’s the 19th over in which he conceded just five runs and took a wicket.
Shreyas Iyer. Photo Credit: Getty Images.
Gautam Gambhir also praised Shreyas Iyer for his 38-ball 88 runs, which was laced with seven fours and six maximum hits.
“We keep talking about how he plays spin but today he showed that he can dominate fast bowlers as well,” he said.
Shreyas Iyer and opener Prithvi Shaw both scored half-centuries as Delhi Capitals scored 228/4 which is the highest score so far in IPL 2020. Sunil Narine of KKR failed with ball and bat again.
