IPL 2021: “Morale is high in the KKR dressing room” – David Hussey
Despite four consecutive defeats in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) chief mentor David Hussey has revealed the team morale remains high and the players are confident of turning things around.
KKR started the tournament with a win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Chennai. However, the side then went on to suffer a hat-trick of defeats against Mumbai Indians (MI), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK). On Saturday, they lost to the Rajasthan Royals (RR) by six wickets after yet another disappointing outing as a batting unit.
Placing his belief in the KKR players, David Hussey told the press that it’s a matter of time before the team will turn things around.
“Dressing room is always one of the highest morale levels. There’s a lot of confidence in the team. It’s just that they have to go and deliver on the cricket field. All the boys have each other’s back, and they trust each other. We just need to tinker with a few issues on the field. And once we do that, we will get a good run. When you win a few games at the back end of the series, we are in with a chance,” said David Hussey, a former Australian cricketer and one of the first cricketers for KKR.
KKR fall to the bottom of the IPL 2021 points table
One of the most followed franchises in the cricket world, KKR are now at the eighth spot in the IPL 2021 points table. Their worst performance in tournament history came in 2009 when they finished last in the edition that was played in South Africa.
Two-time IPL champions KKR won both their trophies under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir in 2012 and 2014. Under Dinesh Karthik, they last qualified for the playoffs in 2018.
Subsequently, in the middle of IPL 2020 in the UAE, Karthik stepped down from KKR’s captaincy, handing the cloak to England skipper Eoin Morgan, who led England to an ODI World Cup triumph in 2019.
Even England’s limited-overs skipper hasn’t been able to revive the side’s fortunes. In fact, Morgan has been in terrible form this season, managing just 45 runs from five matches at 9, striking at 112.5.
KKR will now travel to Ahmedabad, where they will face the KL Rahul-led Punjab Kings on Monday.