Feel honoured to lead this KKR side; best franchise I have played for, admits Dinesh Karthik

Since making his move to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2017, the right-handed Karthik was criticised heavily for his captaincy. However, a lot of things has changed since then, with the Tamil Nadu keeper leading the side to a playoff spot before a fifth-place finish in his second season. 

Strong recruitment earlier in the year had put them into the front seat for the 2020 edition of the tournament. Owing to COVID-19, the tournament has been delayed indefinitely, with no date scheduled for the tournament. During such times, Karthik admitted that he feels honoured to lead the KKR side and hailed it as the best franchise that he has played for. 

"KKR is, without doubt, the best franchise I have played for and I feel honoured to lead this team. In my first year at KKR, we did very well, we almost made it to the final but lost in semis. It was a great season, we had a lot of young guys and we did our best to push forward the result. I need to do something special and help them cross the line," he said, reported TOI. 

While Karthik is not alone with his decision-making, he is now helped by the inclusion of the master-mind Brendon McCullum. Alongside the Kiwi coach, the management snapped up the services of the World-Cup winning skipper, Eoin Morgan. With the season postponed, Karthik is waiting for the opportunity to meet the duo in the dressing room. 

“One of the reasons why I want this IPL to happen is to be able to work with Brendon and Eoin Morgan. These are the two people I genuinely want to rub shoulders with. I can learn so much from these two people A coach can do more in IPL. He can get into the tactical part of the game and help the leaders to formulate the plan," he concluded.