KOLKATA: The buzz was there from the day
Kolkata Knight Riders
(
KKR
) picked up
Eoin Morgan in the
IPL players auction in Kolkata late last year. Many questioned the logic behind not giving the captain’s armband to a World Cup-winning leader straightaway.
POINTS TABLE | FIXTURESDinesh Karthik, who took over from Gautam Gambhir as the captain of KKR in 2018, thus began the ongoing IPL with the sword hanging over his head. And halfway through the season, the Tamil Nadu player read the writing on the wall and handed over the responsibility to his English teammate Morgan on Friday.
Although the franchise did not issue any statement from the outgoing skipper, its website stated Karthik made the decision to focus on his batting and “contributing more to the team’s cause”.
KKR CEO thanked Karthik for his role. “It takes a lot of courage for someone like him (Karthik) to take a decision such as this. While we were surprised by his decision, we are respectful of his wishes," Venky Mysore was quoted as saying on the official KKR website.
"We are also fortunate that Eoin Morgan, the 2019 World Cup-winning captain, who has been the vice-captain, is willing to lead the side going forward.”
The timing of the announcement, however, gave the impression that the process of this change was already on as no side will engineer such a huge change just hours before an important tie against Mumbai Indians.
KKR eventually went down badly against Mumbai on Friday, losing by eight wickets. (
Scorecard)
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