The Kolkata Knight Riders have appointed Eoin Morgan as their captain, with Dinesh Karthik stepping down from his role. Karthik revealed that he wants to focus more on his batting, rather than captaincy.
The franchise made the announcement ahead of their match against defending champions Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi on Friday. KKR is currently fourth in the points table with four wins and four defeats, so far.
Karthik, so far, has struggled with fluency after shuffling around in the middle order. He’s scored just 108 runs in seven innings, with a high score of 58. His form, coupled with KKR’s batting woes, has been a concern for the fans and the franchise.
Here are 3 reasons why KKR did the right thing to handover captaincy to Eoin Morgan:
1. Impressive record with the bat
Morgan was bought the Knight Riders at the IPL 2020 auction for INR 5.25 cr. He has been quite solid with the bat and is only second to opener Shubman Gill, in terms of runs scored for the franchise, this season. The 34-year-old 175 runs at a strike rate of nearly 130. He has scored nearly 9,000 runs in the shortest format, with a decent average of just over 30.
2. Excellent record as a captain in T20s
Morgan has a vast experience of captaincy in limited-overs formats. The Irish-born cricketer has increased his reputation as one of the modern-day greats, especially after leading England to their maiden 50-over World Cup title in 2019. But he’s also got plenty of experience as a talisman in T20s. He’s led the lines in T20s, 88 times, out of which he’s been victorious on 39 occasions.
3. Change is dynamics
Morgan was brought in specifically for the dual purpose of providing experience in the middle order and assisting KKR’s leadership group comprising head coach Brendon McCullum and his predecessor, Dinesh Karthik. Morgan, over the past two years, has been one of the deadliest finishers in T20 cricket. Also, he is now an established leader, talked about as one of the best-limited overs captains in white-ball cricket.
Moreover, his reputation will only improve the form and confidence of players around him, including Dinesh Karthik, who hasn’t been able to keep the balance between captaincy and batting. Morgan, on the other hand, has been brilliant with both the roles and this might only help Karthik and the franchise.