Make Shubman Gill the new KKR captain, groom him for future, asserts Aakash Chopra

Kolkata Knight Riders, for the second time on a trot, failed to make it to the playoffs this IPL season. There are a lot of areas that KKR need to ponder on especially after their average performance, which was not up to the mark in 2020 IPL with players like Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik, Sunil Narine misfiring while Pat Cummins was highly ineffective for a major part of the season. A mid-season captaincy switch was also witnessed when Karthik left captaincy to leave the role to England's World Cup-winning skipper Eoin Morgan but had a little effect.

Former Indian Test opener-turned-cricket analyst Aakash Chopra stated that KKR should only retain three players - Gill, Dre Russ and Varun Chakravarthy.

“In my opinion, the Kolkata Knight Riders should not retain too many players. I will take only three names - Shubman Gill, Andre Russell and Varun Chakravarthy,” Chopra said on his Youtube channel, reported TOI.

He also added that keeping in mind the future of the franchise, KKR should go the DC way and opt for a young skipper in Gill. DC's experiment with Shreyas Iyer has worked wonders as the team made it to playoffs in IPL 2019 and finals this season.

“They should retain the three of them and make Shubman Gill the captain. I am thinking ahead, just like the Delhi Capitals did with Shreyas Iyer. So, KKR should groom Gill for a better future,” he added.

“If KKR is seeing any captaincy material in Shubman Gill, then they will not get the chance again. If they let him go to another team, then Shubman Gill might do for that team what Rohit Sharma has done for Mumbai.”

He suggested the radical idea of releasing a biggie like Sunil Narine, who has been an integral part of the KKR side for many years now. Chopra also wants KKR to release Pat Cummins, who is their most expensive pick so that a lot of money gets freed up.

“They can release Sunil Narine and Pat Cummins as a lot of money will get freed up when they release these two players,” he further suggested.

Eoin Morgan had an outstanding season with the bat for KKR but Chopra is against the idea of him leading the side.

“Eoin Morgan, even if they want to make him the captain which I don’t think is a great idea, will not go for 12-15 crores in the auction. So I feel they should let him go and buy him back again if they want him,” Chopra signed off.