Two-time Indian Premier League winners Kolkata Knight Riders currently sit fourth in the ongoing edition of the tournament, but they have already played six matches, one extra than others, winning three and losing as many. Shreyas Iyer’s men have their task cut out in the upcoming games, and certainly, they need to solve the existing problems at the earliest.
Former India cricketer and commentator Nikhil Chopra has listed out KKR’s death bowling as one of the issues. Their bowling hasn’t been up to the mark in the last few overs where the opposition batters target them. Even stalwarts Pat Cummins and Andre Russell have been taken apart for runs at will.
Umesh Yadav is their highest wicket-taker so far, but even he was hit for more than 20 runs in a single over in one of the recent games in the death overs. Cummins was smacked for 16 runs in three balls by Aiden Markram the other day in the 18th over to end the game itself.
Chopra pointed out the same while stating that Cummins will have to adapt to the Indian pitches soon. He also reckoned that the KKR management will have to assign certain roles to their bowlers.
“If you are an overseas player, your wickets in the death overs should be more than that. As he is adapted to an Australian pitch, he is a hit-the-deck-bowler and looks to move the ball off the seam, while the pitches in India are different,”
he said during ‘Not Just Cricket Show’ on CricTracker.
Chopra, who represented Team India in 39 ODIs and one a single Test game, added that there would be bowlers that teams might look to target, and in this manner they can avert risks and perform better.
KKR will now enjoy a break over the weekend before facing Rajasthan Royals on April 18 at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. It remains to be seen if they solve their issues at the death and will need to be consistent in order to win back to back games.
