IPL 2020: Gautam Gambhir concerned with Knight Riders' squad strength
Former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Gautam Gambhir who led them to two IPL titles expressed his displeasure at KKR’s team combination for the upcoming edition of the mega event. At the conclusion of the IPL Auctions, KKR bagged a few influential names in their kitty. They also bought Pat Cummins for a whopping Rs 15.5 crores and made him the most expensive overseas player in the history of IPL. Cummins became the most expensive buy of the auction and Gambhir hoped that the speedster leaves up to the reputation of his hefty paycheck.
"The positive part about Pat Cummins is that you can expect him to take wickets with the new ball because he has a good swing and he bowls at a good pace. He might be a concern for the death overs but he has good bowling skills. I hope he plays all the matches and makes the team win 3-4 matches single-handedly because he has been bought for such a high amount.”
He is confident about the pace unit back-up noting that if Pat Cummins suffers an injury, there is a ready replacement with Lockie Ferguson but with the top-order there is no replacement for Kolkata Knight Riders. Gambhir feels concerned that KKR lacked proper back-up options could have gone for all-rounders to provide depth to their squad. Meanwhile, KKR also bought Eoin Morgan for Rs 5.5 crores who will be an integral part of the KKR leadership group. Gambhir was quoted as saying during a post-auction show
“If you look at the squad as a whole, there is no backup for Andre Russell, Eoin Morgan, and Sunil Narine who is a one-of-a-kind bowler. If Eoin Morgan suffers an injury, the team has no middle-order overseas batsman. The management could have gone for a Mitchell Marsh or Marcus Stoinis who would have given more depth to the squad, so you have to hope all these players are there for the entire series."
Gambhir is still emotionally invested in the franchise as it was under his leadership that KKR won two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014. Over the years, he emerged as one of the finest IPL captains. Since he moved on from captaincy, in the last two years, KKR hasn’t managed to get their act together under Dinesh Karthik. While KKR qualified for the playoffs in 2018, their performance was pretty ordinary in 2019 which prevented playoffs qualification.