KKR chooses Dinesh Karthik as captain for IPL 2018
After weeks of speculation over Kolkata Knight Riders’ new skipper following their decision to let go of established skipper Gautam Gambhir, KKR have appointed Dinesh Karthik as their new skipper. Robin Uthappa and Chris Lynn were other two options for the captaincy role of the franchise.
Unlike most other sides in IPL this season, KKR have decided to go with a relatively younger side this IPL with as many as three players bought from India’s recently successful Under-19 side. Hence, they had to choose a leader, who could make the optimum use of the youth, experience and the stardom that the side so brilliantly possess.
Karthik has been in IPL since the very beginning of the tournament ten years back and has already played a whopping 152 games for clubs like Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore, where he has scored 2903 runs at an average of 24.81. He has 14 fifties in the league to his name. So, it was a no brainer that the two-time Champions decided to go with the Tamil Nadu stumper.
“We’ve got a good blend of youth and experience in the side. Jaques Kallis is a great coach and I look forward to work with him. The four foreigners we have also been around for some time now, and there has been a lot of experience among them,” said Karthik in the talk show Knight Club, in Star channel.