At the crease, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have always used the strategy of keeping a left-right batting combination. During his time as KKR’s trainer last season, Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir famously employed this tactic, which tries to throw off the bowlers’ rhythm.
Mohammad Kaif, a former Indian cricket player, has voiced doubts about this strategy’s efficacy in the current campaign. The cricket player, who was born in Allahabad, thinks the strategy has been poorly implemented and appears to have failed.
The right-handed batter underlined how important it is for the club to recognise and maintain its core group. Against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), the 44-year-old drew attention to the unexpected choice to send Rinku Singh, one of KKR’s strong finishers from the previous season, to bat at No. 8. The all-rounder said that this change demonstrates a lack of clarity in the team’s batting order and encouraged management to give its batters more precise duties to play.
“As the adage goes, the lefty-right must be at the crease. KKR attempted to uphold that today, but in the process, their star player was not promoted.
However, you must first choose your key player for this KKR squad. Is it Moeen Ali, Iyer, Russell, or Rinku? What are the roles and who is it? Additionally, any batter can enter in any batting position due to this left-right phenomenon.
Even though KKR lost by only four runs, Rinku was batting at No. 8 against Lucknow due to a left-right error that resulted in his dismissal so late. However, he hardly had any deliveries to deal with. But for KKR, this isn’t working,” Kaif posted on social media.
Instead of adopting the cautious strategy used by Ajinkya Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer against the Gujarat Titans (GT), the seasoned cricketer recommended that KKR bring their heavy hitters early in the innings. He believed that by not pursuing Quinton de Kock, the club lost a chance, demonstrating that the left-right combination strategy was not a top concern at that time.
“I think they should just send their top hitters early and urge them to play their natural game when there is a big chase. Even though they might be dismissed for a low score, they played incredibly slowly yesterday during Iyer and Rahane’s partnership, and Narine had a hard time scoring.
Additionally, I believe that De Kock, who earned Player of the Match against the Rajasthan Royals, should have remained with KKR. Why was De Kock fired again? due to their desire for a hitter with a right hand. Left-right ke chakkar mein naiya dub gayi KKR ki (That strategy of theirs went awry). This has happened before. They did it against Lucknow, and they just suffered a crushing defeat to Gujarat,” he continued.
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