New Delhi [India], April 27 (ANI): India’s decorated spinner Anil Kumble believes that the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders need to move their record-breaking signing, Venkatesh Iyer, up in the batting order after his elongated dry spell with the bat continues in the 18th edition of the cash-rich league.
With seven points from nine fixtures, the Knight Riders stand on the verge of seeing their title defence end in the group stage. Kolkata have been tweaking their squad in a bid to find the winning momentum as the group phase heads towards its business end.
Kumble feels it is time for KKR to consider promoting its misfiring vice-captain, Venkatesh, up the batting order, who has remained static in the middle order so far. Venkatesh’s struggles reflect in the shift in his batting position from the top order in IPL 2024 to number four or five in the current edition.
In the last chapter of the cash-rich league, Venkatesh thrived with a powerplay strike rate of 220. However, in his new batting position, the southpaw has mustered up 135 runs at an average of 22.50 and a strike rate of 139.17. Venkatesh’s 60 (29) against Sunrisers Hyderabad has been his only substantial performance.
“They had an opportunity in this game to move Venky right up the order [in this game]. Open the batting with Sunil Narine and then bring in an Indian wicketkeeper. Anyway, they were looking to drop Ramandeep – okay, fine, get [Luvnith] Sisodia in, he’s not a bad player, he can keep wicket. And bring [Anrich] Nortje because Nortje can play instead of Chetan Sakariya,” Kumble said on ESPNcricinfo’s Time Out show.
“[Venkatesh] needs that pace on the ball. You have six overs, the powerplay, it’s where he can play his natural game, hit over the top. He’s done it in the past, that’s how he got KKR back into the playoffs when they were down and out in Dubai,” he added.
During their home fixture against Punjab Kings, the defending champions fielded their 17th and 18th players this season. Chetan Sakariya, injury replacement for Umran Malik and Rovman Powell in place of Ramandeep Singh, were brought into the playing XI for the fixture.
A number of changes came in the milieu of the Knight Riders treading in the must-win territory. Sakariya went wicketless and leaked heavily after conceding 39 runs in his three-over spell. Meanwhile, Rovman Powell didn’t get an opportunity to flex his boundary-hitting muscles after relentless rain washed out the entire fixture, just one over into KKR’s 202-run pursuit.
“It’s not like they have won two games and now need five in a row or things like that. So I’m not sure [about their chances]. They made – what? – two changes [for the PBKS game]? Chetan Sakariya played his first game. Rovman made his debut for KKR. So obviously, they have to stick to that [XI for the next game]. Although Chetan did bowl his overs [3-0-39-0], Rovman [didn’t bat]. They will have to continue with that in the next game,” he said.
“In terms of quality and ability, I think KKR have it in them. If you look back at their Championship side last year versus this year, it’s just that their players are underperforming. It’s not that the personnel have changed that drastically. You have Quinton de Kock instead of Phil Salt. Quinton de Kock is equally destructive. [Rahmanullah] Gurbaz was there last year – he came in for Phil Salt [for the playoffs] and did really well. Sunil Narine played exceptionally well last year. Instead of Shreyas Iyer, you have Ajinkya Rahane as captain. He’s batted really well at No. 3 for KKR. So there is not much change, but they need to do something to get all those points,” he added. (ANI)
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