IPL 2021: 3 KKR players who might not get a chance to play in second phase
Kolkata Knight Riders were not at their best in the first phase of IPL 2021. They struggled to find the right combination and were often found fumbling to find players who could stand up and be counted.
Now, as the IPL season heads to UAE for the second phase, KKR will need more planning and will need to identify players who can get the job done for them. They do have a big squad at their disposal, but will not want to juggle it around too much as it does not allow players to grow in any role.
Here we take a look at the three players who might not feature in the second phase of the IPL for KKR:
1.) Sheldon Jackson
Sheldon Jackson was first spotted at a KKR selection trial by Joydeep Mukherjee, a former Bengal player, and was snapped up by the franchise back in 2009. He has since gone on to have a decent domestic career and is a consistent performer for Saurashtra.
He is a multi-dimensional player for his state side - he is excellent with the bat, is a gun fielder and can also assume the responsibility of a wicketkeeper if the team needs him. However, KKR do have Dinesh Karthik as the wicketkeeper-batsman and they do have a number of young Indian batsmen to get the job done which makes it difficult for him to get a game in the second half of IPL 2021.
2.) Gurkeerat Singh Mann
Another consistent performer in the domestic circuit, Gurkeerat Singh Mann has not been able to eke out consistent and powerful performances in the IPL. He provides a lot of experience to the batting order, but his strike rate does not entice a lot of excitement.
KKR do have the likes of Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Dinesh Karthik and Rahul Tripathi - players who have the mettle to get the job done in the shortest format. This makes it difficult for Gurkeerat to get a nod to don the KKR jersey in the second phase of the IPL.
As far as the numbers are concerned, Gurkeerat has played 113 T20 matches where he has managed to score 1829 runs at an average of 24.38 and with a strike rate of 123.74. However, we might not see him in this phase of the IPL for KKR.
3.) Karun Nair
There was a time in 2016 when Karun Nair could do no wrong, he had scored a triple ton against England in a Test match, was doing great things for Delhi Daredevils at the top of the order and was one of the brightest young prospects in Indian cricket. However, his career has gone south and he has fallen out of favor with the Indian side.
He was picked up by KKR as a specialist batsman in the middle-order, but KKR already have enough options in the second phase of IPL 2021 and this could make it difficult for Karun to break into the playing XI.
His numbers in T20s are not bad. In 124 innings, he has scored 2732 runs at an average of 24.83 and with a strike rate of 131.47, but he has slipped down the pecking order as far as the batsmen are concerned.