Former India player Mohammad Kaif claimed that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) needed to groom star batter Rinku Singh as their future captain. However, he has been an important part of the team for the last few seasons. The upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season will be his eighth year with the team as well.
He also shared that Rinku has the potential to lead the KKR team. He also added his stunning record in domestic cricket.
Kaif added in his latest YouTube video: “KKR should groom Rinku Singh as a future captain. Rinku Singh is an all-format player. Although he is not part of the Test team, he can bat well in all formats. I come from UP and I know what he does for UP. A lot of batters score runs, but his runs come in winning cause. So, that guy is ready and captains UP.”
“He has the mental strength to handle captaincy and batting together. They have a guy who is ready. Now it remains to be seen if they give him the captaincy after Rahane, do it mid-season, or make him the vice-captain. Just get him in the mix, it will be a long-term investment for KKR,” he again shared.
“Even that call was taken very late. Rahane was picked towards the end of the auction, which means he was not in the plans for captaincy. It felt like they were looking for a future captain when they spent ₹23-24 crore for Venkatesh Iyer. But they later went with Rahane because of his captaincy experience,” he further added.
“He needs to work on his power-hitting down the ground” – Mohammad Kaif on Ajinkya Rahane
Mohammad Kaif also shared concerns over veteran Ajinkya Rahane’s spin issues. He also shared that the batter needs to add a few shots to his game instead of depending on the slog sweep only. He also shared that Rahane should learn from the legend Virat Kohli, who has improved his game against spinners recently as well.
“Virat Kohli was in a similar situation. His strike rate was going down against spinners. He shut everyone’s mouth by attacking the spinners and inventing new shots. Rahane just has the slog sweep against spinners. He needs to work on his power-hitting down the ground. He has to increase his range of shots against spinners, as Virat Kohli has done. Virat Kohli has set a great example for everyone, and Rahane can also learn from it,” he said again.
“Rahane got the team off to good starts in the last season. If you see the entire season, he scored around 30-40 in every match, but he did not have a single Man of the Match award. So, that question mark is still there with Rahane. 30s and 40s are fine, but he gets out as soon as the spinners come in,” Mohammad Kaif concluded.
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