3 issues KKR need to solve despite Rinku Singh-led magical win in IPL 2023
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pulled off one of the most incredible wins in their Indian Premier League history against the defending champions Gujarat Titans on Sunday.
Rinku Singh starred with an unbeaten 48 off just 21 balls in the three-wicket victory, which looked improbable when 28 runs were needed from the last five balls. The left-handed batter hit five consecutive sixes and registered a famous victory for his team.
KKR are currently third on the points table with two wins in three games and a net run rate of +1.375. While this is a good start to the season for a team that did not look strong on paper ahead of the tournament, they are still far from being perfect in terms of their on-field performances.
#1 Avoid losing early wickets
Jason Roy has joined KKR. https://t.co/efC5XHOjrN
KKR's opening partnerships read 13, 26 and 30 this season. Rahmanullah Gurbaz's opening partner has also been different in all of these matches - Mandeep Singh, Venkatesh Iyer and Narayan Jagadeeshan.
If KKR can get a good start from the top order on a regular basis, it will definitely reduce the pressure in the middle and lower order. They definitely have the personnel to perform better.
They have now signed Jason Roy. It will be interesting to see if the management backs him as the fourth overseas player after Narine, Russell and Gurbaz. That would mean that they will have to play one less overseas pacer.
#2 Consistency from the experienced names
While Andre Russell was the most valuable players for KKR in IPL 2022, he has not had a great start to the season this time. He has scores of 35, 0 & 1 in three innings and has not bowled a single over. Compare that to last season, when he scored 335 runs at a strike rate of 174.48 and took 17 wickets at an average of 16.35.
Nitish Rana has been a seasoned campaigner for the Knight Riders. He has now been appointed as the skipper of the franchise in Shreyas Iyer's absence. While he has played a couple of handy cameos - 24 off 17 balls vs Punjab & 45 off 29 balls vs Gujarat, he is expected to stay till the end as the captain of the team.
#3 The pace attack needs to step up
Having not been picked for KKR's first two games, Lockie Ferguson hit red-hot form right from the start of his IPL campaign this season.
#IPL2023 https://t.co/ND9UvxCZ5B
KKR have decent pacers on their roster - Lockie Ferguson, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur. Each of these bowlers has performed well in specific roles, though they tend to be inconsistent in a high-variance format. They have been the worst pace attack in the tournament by a considerable margin - 4 wickets in 28 overs at an average of 72.50 (worst) and an economy rate of 10.36 (second-worst).
In contrast, KKR's spinners have started the tournament pretty well. They have picked up 11 wickets at an average of 14.82 and an economy rate of 7.52. However, this cannot be sustainable throughout the season if they are to go the distance.