Sunil Gavaskar advocates for Rahmanullah Gurbaz to be part of KKR’s playing XI in IPL 2024. The anticipated overseas trio includes Mitchell Starc, Andre Russell, and Sunil Narine, leaving Gurbaz in contention with Jason Roy for the final overseas spot.
During a Star Sports discussion, Gavaskar addressed the Kolkata Knight Riders’ potential resolution to their wicketkeeping-batting issue, particularly if they choose to include Roy in the playing XI:
“I have liked Gurbaz’s batting a lot based on whatever I have seen. He is extremely aggressive, and his batting is like a slight copy of MS Dhoni, and that is why I probably like it.”
The ex-Indian captain further mentioned that the Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batsman’s commendable behavior should also be a factor in securing a place in KKR’s playing XI.
“When the World Cup ended, after that, the job he did, he gave money to the people sleeping on the footpath. For doing that, he has to definitely be in the team for me,” Gavaskar stated.
Gurbaz accumulated 227 runs with a less-than-impressive average of 20.64 in 11 innings during IPL 2023. His notable performances included two fifties, with a powerful 81-run innings off 39 deliveries against the Gujarat Titans at Eden Gardens as his standout effort.
“Not going to be easy” – Sunil Gavaskar’s take on KKR’s IPL 2024 playoff chances
Sunil Gavaskar shared his views on Kolkata Knight Riders’ chances of qualifying for the playoffs, emphasizing the need for their Indian batting quartet of Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, and Venkatesh Iyer to step up if the Eden Gardens pitch is slow and favors spinners.
“Not going to be easy (playoff qualification). They have to because they have got the experience, not only of playing on those kinds of pitches, of having played in the IPL for a while.”
The former cricketer, now a commentator, mentioned that the significant Indian batters for KKR, particularly Rinku, have been delivering solid performances recently.
“I think that experience does come in very handy because you know what the pressure is and you know how to handle it. All these four players have done it exceptionally well. Rinku Singh, in particular, in the last year or so has been tremendous,” Gavaskar observed.
Shreyas was absent from the previous IPL season due to back problems. In IPL 2023, Rinku (474), Nitish (413), and Venkatesh (404) emerged as the top three run-scorers for KKR.
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