After Kolkata Knight Riders started their Indian Premier League 2021 campaign by crushing SunRisers Hyderabad at MA Chidambaram Stadium, KKR faded away in the IPL. They lost all the matches after that. In the 18th match of the ongoing IPL, the 2008 champions, Rajasthan Royals thrashed the two-time title holders KKR at Wankhede Stadium. The stadium has changed, and so has the city, but KKR’s fortune did not take a turn.
Rajasthan notched up a blazing six-wicket win over Eoin Morgan’s KKR. The victory came after the 10-wicket defeat that Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore inflicted on Sanju Samson’s side.
KKR have made some tactical blunders – Aakash Chopra
Being invited to pad up first, the Purple Army struggled to sail in the batting on Wankhede’s pitch, where teams have posted 170+ runs batting first. After the defeat, Indian cricketer-turned-commentator, Akash Chopra spoke on his YouTube channel about some tricks that KKR have been missing.
“There are some tactical blunders, to be honest. When the wicket had fallen after 10.2 overs, considering what had happened in the last match, I would have sent Andre Russell. It is possible it might not have worked out but what if it had gone well. I think they are missing a trick with Andre Russell, he should be playing more balls,” Chopra said.
“Shubman Gill was playing very slowly and Nitish Rana was also trying. Shubman Gill got run out in the end and the power was not seen at all in the powerplay. Definitely, the bowling was good but it was not that good that you don’t try at all to score the quick runs,” concluded Chopra.
KKR will move to Ahmedabad, where they’ll face off KL Rahul’s Punjab Kings on Monday. Currently, they toil at the last spot in the IPL 2021 points table with only one win from five outings.
