KKR owner confident of Chris Lynn and Andre Russel’s return ahead of IPL
IPL
Kolkata Knight Riders owner Venky Mysore seemed confident that star players Chris Lynn and Andre Russell will be available to for KKR's campaign opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 8. He also heaped praise on captain Dinesh Karthik following his recent heroics in the Nidahas Trophy.
KKR fans’ biggest complaint was the current side’s over-reliance on the few star players after the management decided to invest heavily in local talent in the mega-auction. And those fears further gained ground last month when the Australian opener and the Windies all-rounder were sidelined with injuries one after the other.
While Lynn suffered yet another shoulder injury during Australia T20 international against New Zealand in Auckland, Russell had pulled his hamstring while playing in the Pakistan Super League. As if that was not enough, reports also emerged that Australian pacer Mitchel Starc was experiencing a sore calf in the ongoing Test series against South Africa.
However, Mysore came out to give a much-needed update on their injuries on the sidelines of Sourav Ganguly's book launch titled 'A Century Is Not Enough’, where he stated that he was expecting all three of them to be fit for the campaign opener.
“I think that Starc report was not necessarily very accurate. He is absolutely fine. It's a bit unfortunate with the injuries. All the reports we are getting, they are making very good progress. Fingers crossed. We are expecting them to play on April 8. They will join the camp,” said Mysore, reported India Today.
Amidst all the pre-seaosn apprehension, KKR’s new skipper Dinesh Karthik gave the fans something to rejoice as his late heroics helped the Rohit Sharma-led India win the Nidahas Trophy in a dramatic fashion. He scored 29 runs in eight balls, which also needed a last-ball six to seal the victory, and Mysore couldn’t seem to get enough of it as well.
“In eight balls, he has made us look like geniuses. But we were convinced even before that, that he is the right choice for us. He has a lot of freshness, a lot of experience and he is a class player. With a wicketkeeper, batsman
"He has the flexibility to play under any situation. His calmness struck me. I have spent a lot of time with him recently and when he came in to bat, he seemed like he was confident he was going to win it. It bodes well for us also."
