Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has revealed his ideal Kolkata Knight Riders playing XI for their first match. The Shreyas Iyer-led team will take on Chennai Super Kings tonight at the Wankhede Stadium in the IPL 2022 opening clash.
The franchise will be without the services of Pat Cummins and Aaron Finch for the first few games. Finch replaces Alex Hales in the squad after the English cricketer pulled out from the tournament citing bio-bubble fatigue.
Venkatesh Iyer, the star player for the Kolkata Knight Riders last season will once again open the innings for the franchise. Along with him, KKR is likely to go in with veteran Ajinkya Rahane at the top.
In a video on the former cricketer’s Youtube Channel, Aakash Chopra emphasized that Rahane should open as he is familiar with the conditions at his home ground, Wankhede Stadium. He added that skipper Shreyas Iyer and Nitish Rana should follow the openers, at Number 3 and 4. Aakash picked Russell, Narine, Billings, and Karunaratne as four overseas options.
“I am seeing Ajinkya Rahane opening alongside Venkatesh Iyer because Finch is not there. So make Rahane open, it is his ground, he knows this ground. Keep Shreyas Iyer at No. 3 and Nitish Rana should play at No. 4. After that, all your four overseas players one after the other – Sam Billings, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Chamika Karunaratne. Then Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, and Shivam Mavi,” Aakash Chopra said.
KKR has a lot of depth in batting and plenty of variations in the bowling: Aakash Chopra
The former cricketer expressed that there is a lot of depth in the Kolkata Knight Riders batting attack. He added that the presence of Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana helps them with extra bowling options. Aakash also stated that if Umesh Yadav manages to find his rhythm this season, he could be an asset to the team. He said,
“The team looks alright to me, the depth is seen in the batting if they play freely. They have variety in the bowling, two mystery spinners in the form of Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, Chamika Karunaratne is a medium pacer, so you have Andre Russell. Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer can also bowl a little. So a lot of depth in batting and plenty of variations in the bowling. If Umesh Yadav has a good year, then this year is going to be extremely good for this team, that’s what I feel.”
Aakash Chopra’s ideal KKR playing XI: Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Sam Billings (wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Chamika Karunaratne, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Shivam Mavi.
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