Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has suggested the Kolkata Knight Riders to try a new opening pair in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League.
Given the recent struggles of Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill at the top order, the 71-year-old feels that KKR should go with Rahul Tripathi and Sunil Narine as the openers for the remainder of the IPL 2021.
Gavaskar’s comments came after the two-time champions registered their second win of the season against Punjab Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Chasing a paltry target of 124 runs, KKR got off to a poor start as they lost three wickets inside three overs. Both Rana and Gill failed to put up a good show with the bat yet again. While the youngster scored just 9 runs off 8 balls, the 27-year-old was dismissed by Moises Henriques for a duck.
However, Rahul Tripathi and Eoin Morgan steadied the ship of KKR and guided their side to a five-wicket win on Monday.
It was Morgan who played an unbeaten knock of 47 runs off 40 balls with the help of four boundaries and two sixes.
After the conclusion of the game, Gavaskar said, “I think KKR have to make up their minds whether Narine opens the batting with Gill or Tripathi opens the batting. With Shubman struggling and not quite there; maybe there is a case for Tripathi to open with Narine.”
“Nitish Rana he has been very successful for KKR in the past few years. He has been batting at No.3. So, if Rahul can open the batting, maybe that’s the way to go for Rana,” the former India cricketer said on Star Sports Network.