IPL 2020 | Wonāt be surprising to see Morgan take over KKR captaincy mid-season, claims Sunil Gavaskar
Gavaskar feels Morgan 'might' take over KKR captaincy mid-season
|Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar believes that it is very much possible that Eoin Morgan might take over KKR captaincy duties from Dinesh Karthik mid-way through the season should results not go the franchiseās way. Despite recruiting Morgan, KKR stuck with āDKā as skipper for IPL 2020.
If thereās one thing that the IPL has taught us over the course of 12 seasons, itās that there are no guarantees, particularly when it comes to who might end up playing in and leading sides. Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals), for example, in 2018, had invested on Gautam Gambhir as their next skipper but had to do away with him mid-way through the season - mutually agreed, due to his torrid run with the bat - and hand over the armband to Shreyas Iyer.Ā
Rajasthan Royals, last season, also replaced Rahane with Smith towards the fag end of the season, and since the inception of the IPL, there have been a dozen such instances where teams have had to unceremoniously axe their incumbents and replace them due to various reasons.Ā
Along these lines, legendary Indian cricketer and renowned expert Sunil Gavaskar feels Kolkata Knight Riders might replace Dinesh Karthik with Eoin Morgan, as captain, mid-way through the season, should results not pan out their way.
āEoin Morgan will lend tremendous clout to the top order and his tactical acumen will be a big plus, too. Donāt be surprised if he takes over as captain in the middle of the tournament if early results donāt pan out,ā Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.
DK is not the only player Gavaskar is sceptical about, as the 71-year-old feels that the clubās record-signing Pat Cummins will have his work cut out. Gavaskar believes that the pace of Cummins, who was bought for a whopping Rs 15.50 crore, might be ineffective on slow and low UAE wickets, due to which the speedster might have to pull a few variations out of his bag.
āThe Kolkata Knight Riders team has the biggest buy of the last auction in Pat Cummins. On the slow pitches, his pace may not be effective and he will have to look at other varieties to give his team the necessary breakthroughs. He can bat usefully too, but thereās no doubt that most eyes will be on how he lives up to his huge price tag,ā said the former opener.
Looking at the sideās positives, however, the legendary opener opined that the presence of āthe biggest game-changer in T20sā, Andre Russell, and the tactical fearlessness of new coach Brendon McCullum will be a big boost to the side.
āKKRās coach Brendon McCullum will encourage the team to play fearless cricket and in Andre Russell the side has the biggest game-changer in this format.ā
KKR will kick-start their campaign on September 23 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium versus the defending champions, Mumbai Indians.Ā
