Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has suggested some changes in the Kolkata Knight Riders batting line up to avoid any collapse against Delhi Capitals on Sunday in Sharjah.
While speaking on his YouTube Channel, Aakash Chopra observed that the opening batsman Sunil Narine should be benched and replaced with Rahul Tripathi to have a good start to the match. He might have concluded to replace Sunil Narine after the allrounder has struggled to build an opening partnership with Shubman Gill. He has scored only 24 runs in the last three matches and with the ball, he has picked up two wickets.
Aakash Chopra said that adding Tripathi will add more depth in the batting line up while also guard against a mini-batting collapse.
“I would say Kolkata Knight Riders should open with Tripathi instead of Narine, and you can make a fast bowler sit out. Because at the moment I am feeling that they have a lot of bowling options, but their batting lineup is a little weak if there is a mini-collapse,” Aakash added.
Aakash Chopra also observed that with the Kolkata Knight Riders captain Dinesh Karthik and Nitish Rana not among the runs, Eoin Morgan was required to take the franchise out of a spot of bother in their last game.
“Nitish Rana has not played a big knock and neither has Dinesh Karthik, and then it becomes a bit of an issue. It happened in the last match as well, but they got saved as Eoin Morgan played very well, and they barely scraped through to a good total.”
Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders, after losing their opener match against Mumbai Indians, registered consecutive victories in their last two matches. The opening batsman Shubman Gill played a crucial role in both the games putting a good score on the board.