IPL 2018: 3 tactical changes which can help the Kolkata Knight Riders to excelÂ
The Kolkata Knight Riders started their Indian Premier League(IPL) campaign in wonderful fashion as they defeated the Royal Challengers Bangalore in their season opener. The departure of Gautam Gambhir was the biggest worry for the Kolkata fans. The two-time champions were in a spot of bother after the exit of their former skipper Gambhir. The Knights of Kolkata looked like a balanced side on paper but they were surrounded by injuries, which weakened their team.
The absence of Mitchell Starc added to their bowling woes. There was suspense on Chris Lynn and Andre Russell's injury too but the duo recovered in time for the IPL. After a wonderful start to the season, the Knight Riders were put on the backfoot after successive defeats. Dinesh Karthik's captaincy has been under the hammer after a few defeats. The Knights are currently at the fourth spot with three wins in seven games. The Karthik-led side would like to strengthen their position on the points table.
What can the men in purple do to consolidate on their position? Let us have a look at the three tactical changes which can help them perform better.
#3 Batting order chaos
The Knight Riders have attained success with their current batting order. With Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn at the top of the order, the Knights have been aggressive at the beginning of the innings. Narine has been converted into a pinch hitter and has done his job with perfection, scoring a 17-ball fifty earlier in the tournament. To promote Narine, KKR had to push down Robin Uthappa to the number three spot. Uthappa has had the starts but has failed to consolidate on them.
Since his shoulder and muscle injury, Lynn has been unable to swing the bat freely. He has lowered his backlift due to which the power in his shots has decreased. Despite this, he has been successful in this edition of the IPL but the Men in Purple need to change their batting order. They need to promote Uthappa to open the innings and youngster Shubman Gill needs to get a promotion in the batting order too. Gill scored a gutsy 37 against the Delhi Daredevils.
Andre Russell has been an integral part of KKR's batting order in this edition of the league. Russell scored a fiery 88 off 32 balls against the Chennai Super Kings, with his innings including 11 massive sixes. In the last few games, the Carribean all-rounder has not had enough balls to play and he is being underutilized by the KKR management. The all-rounder needs to bat higher up the order if the platform is set for him. The Karthik-led side will have a higher chance of getting high scores with Russell getting enough deliveries to face.