Cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra believes that newly selected Indian batsmen; Manish Pandey and KS Bharat must bat out of their position for Kolkata Knight Riders if they are to play for the two-time champions in the 2024 season.
The Kolkata-based franchise’s first auction purchase was Indian wicket-keeper batter KS Bharat, who was purchased for his base price of 50 lakh. The experienced Indian batter Manish Pandey returns to his old franchise as he was acquired at his basic price of 50 lakh in a 2024 auction.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra feels that Kolkata Knight Riders will be unable to bat Pandey and Bharat in their optimal batting positions even if they include them in their XI, as they got their top-order sorted going into the 2024 season.
“KS Bharat is your keeping backup, although I don’t think they will be able to play him. They will have to get Rahmanullah Gurbaz to open because if he doesn’t play and you get Jason Roy to open, you will have to play a keeper in the middle and KS Bharat batting at Nos. 5, 6 or 7 won’t be ideal.”
“Whenever KS Bharat and Manish Pandey play, they will have to bat in the lower-middle order, and that’s not ideal for either of them.
“They will have either Rahmanullah Gurbaz or Jason Roy at the top and then Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, and Rinku Singh, and then a finisher in Andre Russell or Sherfane Rutherford,” Aakash Chopra said.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) made a great showing at the 2024 IPL auction. Before the auction, the franchise released a few players and was able to sign ten players for the IPL 2024 season. The franchise has done on-the-ground scouting and has acquired a few successful young domestic players for the next seasons.
They Had Three Amazing Spinners and Had The Fourth Option Available – Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra believes that spin-bowling will be a strength for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the coming season, with the team adding Mujeeb Ur Rahman to the talented Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Suyash Sharma, and believes that KKR has a good strength of Indian players.
“In bowling, they had three amazing spinners and had the fourth option available – Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Suyash Sharma, and Anukul Roy. They have added Mujeeb Ur Rahman to that.”
“In Indian bowling, their big buy was Chetan Sakariya, which is okay. The team is good. I liked them before the auction as well, and it is good now as well because they have six or seven good Indian players. Their Indian core is proper,” Aakash Chopra added.
The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have not won the IPL since 2014 and will attempt to do so in the 2024 edition under Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy and guidance of newly-appointed Gautam Gambhir. Iyer did not participate in the league in 2023 owing to a back problem, as Nitish Rana was unable to succeed as a leader.
