"Varun Chakravarthy was poor last season": Aakash Chopra on KKR needing spinners in IPL 2023 auction
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra feels the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) may need an Indian spinner apart from the likes of Varun Chakravarthy and Anukul Roy. Chakravarthy's graph has just gone in the wrong direction since the 2021 T20 World Cup and also had a poor IPL 2022 season, according to Chopra.
The spinner picked up just six wickets from 11 games and was expensive with an economy rate of 8.51. Chopra feels that Kolkata can perhaps look at adding some experienced wrist-spinners like Piyush Chawla and Amit Mishra to their ranks, or some youngsters like Mayank Markande who will come at a cheaper price.
In a video on his YouTube channel, here's what Aakash Chopra had to say about KKR's spinners:
"They may need an Indian spinner. They do have Anukul Roy and Varun Chakravarthy as two options, but Varun was poor last season. So maybe they could look at options like Piyush Chawla, Amit Mishra or Mayank Markanda, who can cost around INR 1 crore. They can't afford any costly spinner."
Aakash Chopra on KKR needing an Indian wicketkeeper
KKR have just one specialist wicketkeeper in Rahmanullah Gurbaz, whom they traded-in from the Gujarat Titans. However, Chopra feels the two-time IPL champions will definitely need a backup wicketkeeper, preferably an Indian.
On this he stated:
"They need an Indian wicketkeeper for sure. Last year they were clueless about whether or not to stick with Sheldon Jackson. If i read the 14 names that are with the team, only Gurbaz seems like a genuine keeper. So they definitely need an Indian keeper or an overseas batter who can keep. But they also cannot afford someone like Nicholas Pooran."
Wonderfull knock by #KKR Wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz in Lanka Premier League.
@RGurbaz_21
@LPLT20 https://t.co/a3rw44kcGY
Current Kolkata Knight Riders squad: Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, Shardul Thakur, Rahmanullah Gurbaz & Lockie Ferguson.