IPL News: Assistant coach Simon Katich admits the change in KKR's dynamics after six losses
What's the story?
After enduring six consecutive defeats, KKR bounced back with two wins on the trot to have a good chance of making it to the playoffs. After enduring six defeats on a trot, KKR's assistant coach Simon Katich has come out and told that the team's dynamics has certainly changed.
In case you didn't know...
Kolkata Knight Riders have had a very ordinary season in IPL 2019. Only the bat of Andre Russell did the talking. There were spurts of hope with Shubman Gill's exubrence at the top of the order and Dinesh Karthik's fine knock of 97 off 46, albeit in a losing cause.
But overall, they were extremely dependent on Russell and that resulted in six consecutive defeats and a host of instances where public dissent from players against the skipper Karthik started coming out in the open.
Russell, in an interview, openly questioned the leadership decisions and later on it was clearly evident in their last few games with Karthik's outburst in the strategic timeout against KXIP. Things definitely didn't seem normal in the KKR camp.
The heart of the matter
Katich, KKR's assistant coach, reiterated after the loss that scripted their ousting from the tournament that the dynamic within the squad began changing during the six-match losing streak. "Can't hide from the fact that there was tension," he said after the MI game. He added:
That was pretty evident from the last few games after we got on a bit of a roll with losses. We've got to address that as a group. What is so important in the IPL is the dynamic in the group, and I guess the unity. That's something that KKR is very very proud of. It's a very successful franchise and it's something that everyone involved has worked very very hard to contribute to over a long period of time.
What's next?
KKR might let go of Karthik as the skipper for the next season and allow him to thrive just as a wicket-keeper batsman. KKR clearly lacked depth in their lower middle-order and that's an area they will look to strengthen for next season.
Overall, KKR will look to groom more young talent and might release the persistent non-performers of the season.
Follow Sportskeeda for all the updates on orange cap, points table, schedule, news, live scores, purple cap and fantasy tips.