IPL 2021: Aakash Chopra suggests 2 changes to KKR's playing XI, drops captain Eoin Morgan
Aakash Chopra has proposed a couple of changes to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) playing XI ahead of their match against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) today.
The cricketer-turned-broadcaster said it was high time KKR sacked their out-of-form captain Eoin Morgan and replaced him with Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan. Aakash Chopra cited a conversation he had with two-time champion KKR captain Gautam Gambhir and suggested that Morgan needs to be selfless to make way for someone who can contribute more than him.
In the latest video on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said:
"Kolkata, I request you with folded hands: I am giving you two or three options. Firstly, change the captain, you have done it before and there's no shame in it. I was talking to Gautam recently. He talked about the 2014 season, saying he couldn't score any runs in the first three games so he went to the coach and said, 'I am not able to do it, let me just sit out because I am not contributing.'"
He added:
"Morgan would have thought the same because it's been 11 innings and he's averaging 10. We are not seeing any great decisions in captaincy in your team selections and all of that either. So maybe it's time to bring Shakib Al Hasan in place of Morgan."
Aakash Chopra also asked KKR to snub Tim Seifert, who made his IPL debut in the team's last match, from the playing XI. The former opener believes Australian all-rounder Ben Cutting will be a better pick because he can bat in the lower order while taking some weight off Venkatesh Iyer's shoulders in the bowling department.
Desperate times, desperate measures. Can #KKR contemplate making Shakib the captain for the remaining games? Nothing against Morgan but if runs aren’t coming, they simply aren’t. Can happen to the best of players. Shakib would give a few overs alongside his batting. Thoughts?
Aakash Chopra said in this regard:
"You can't play Seifert if you are not getting him to bat in the top-order. So replace him with Ben Cutting. Do something because you don't have Lockie so you've got to have at least five bowlers. Five bowlers plus Venkatesh Iyer is alright but four bowlers plus Venkatesh Iyer? It just doesn't make sense my friend. I honestly don't get how you can expect so much from him. He's doing well but he is not Superman."
Eoin Morgan has scored just 109 runs in IPL 2021, with his last five innings including two ducks and no double-digit score. Tim Seifert, on the other hand, played just four balls on his debut and scored two runs.
Tell Eoin Morgan, "It's not working out": Aakash Chopra
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Aakash Chopra further pitched for better team selection from the KKR camp and said there won't be a better chance of bringing both Ben Cutting and Shakib Al Hasan into the mix.
Aakash Chopra signed off by saying:
"When you write those names on the sheet, please see how many bowlers there are because there's no point in playing this much batting. You said you don't have the balance without Russell but you also said that there's a specific role for Ben Cutting. There won't be a better role than this. At least play him if you don't like Shakib. In fact, play Shakib too and tell Eoin Morgan, 'it's not working out'. It happens to everyone... but tends to hurt a little more if it's an overseas captain."
Cutting has collected 40 runs at a strike rate of 148.14 and three wickets at an economy rate of just over 10 in T20Is for Australia, apart from 2368 runs and 128 wickets from 171 games across many T20 leagues.
Meanwhile, Shakib has a strike rate of over 121 for his 1763 T20I runs and 106 wickets via left-arm off-spin at the cost of 6.73 runs per over to his name.
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The KKR vs SRH match will begin at 7:30 PM IST in Dubai.