IPL 2021: "No one says anything to the one who got him to bowl that over" - Aakash Chopra on KKR dropping Prasidh Krishna
Aakash Chopra has lambasted the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) think tank for dropping Prasidh Krishna after one bad over at the death. He highlighted that the skipper who erred in his choice of bowlers did not have to face the music.
Krishna conceded 22 runs in the penultimate over of KKR's last match against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), as Ravindra Jadeja smashed him for two fours and as many sixes. The Bengaluru-born seamer was replaced by Sandeep Warrier in the Eoin Morgan-led side's playing XI for Tuesday's IPL 2021 encounter against the Delhi Capitals (DC).
While reflecting on KKR's team selection in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra pointed out that Morgan did not have to face the consequences for his poor captaincy and lack of contribution with the bat. He observed:
"Prasidh Krishna bowled just the one bad over. No one says anything to the one who got him to bowl that over, neither does he score runs nor does anyone say anything to him."
The former India cricketer was unconvinced about KKR sidelining Krishna after one indifferent performance. Chopra elaborated:
"He can do anything but Prasidh Krishna dropped and Sandeep Warrier plays. I am happy that Sandeep Warrier played but Prasidh Krishna gets dropped after one match, I don't agree with that at all."
Warrier got to bowl just two overs in yesterday afternoon's Indian Premier League encounter. He did not look too threatening and was not given the ball at the death even though Lockie Ferguson was unavailable.
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Aakash Chopra on Southee replacing Russell in the KKR playing XI
Aakash Chopra also questioned the selection of Tim Southee in KKR's playing XI as a replacement for the injured Andre Russell. He reasoned:
"Russell was not there, so who could have been there in place of him. I had given you the option of Ben Cutting, Shakib Al Hasan and Pawan Negi. I had not given one option for sure, I had said that they cannot play Southee because he is not a like-to-like replacement, the batting becomes weak, you will not have the depth because Russell is not just a bowler."
The 44-year-old signed off by stating that Morgan and Brendon McCullum leave everyone dumbfounded with their team selections. Chopra said:
"Sharjah, turning pitch - they said whatever you can think, Kolkata will do something else. The Morgan and Brendon McCullum pair will do something different, totally unique. They played Tim Southee."
KKR's decision to play a specialist seamer in Tim Southee turned out to be a blessing in disguise as Ferguson could bowl just two overs due to an injury. Sunil Narine's explosive knock then helped them across the line and they did not have to pay for the lack of batting depth.