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Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir was not impressed with KKR’s top order after a poor outing against CSK in IPL 2021. The former KKR skipper stated that KKR’s top 5 batsmen were shaky and carelessly threw their wickets away. KKR’s top 5 batsmen could only amass a total of 25 runs against CSK. Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, and Pat Cummins were the only major contributors from KKR’s batting side. Gambhir felt that a total of 220 could be chased down at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai. To highlight the mistakes KKR made against CSK, Gambhir cited the example of the IPL 2014 final.
The IPL 2014 final was played between Kolkata and Punjab on June 1, 2014. Batting first, Punjab posted 199 on the board. In order to win, KKR needed to score 200 runs at an average of 10 runs per over. Gautam Gambhir was the skipper of the KKR side back then. In the dressing room, Gambhir stated that the first 5-6 overs would be the most crucial overs. Hence, it was important to not lose wickets in the powerplay overs. Eventually, KKR succeeded in chasing the total and won the IPL 2014 trophy. Gambhir felt that if KKR had not lost so many wickets in the powerplay overs, they could have won against CSK. In reply to CSK’s 220, KKR’s openers tried to start on an aggressive note. However, Shubman Gill was dismissed for a duck in the first ball he faced. Thereafter, KKR’s top batting order completely derailed. At the end of 8 overs, KKR was down to 66/5.
KKR could have lost by a margin of 150 runs - Gautam Gambhir
While Gambhir was not in awe of KKR’s top order, he was clearly impressed by Russell, Karthik, and Cummins. Dinesh Karthik put up a fighting knock of 40 off 24 balls to keep KKR in the game. Andre Russell also batted exceptionally well, scoring 54 runs off 22 balls. Prior to the dismissal of Karthik and Russell, everyone thought that KKR’s loss was certain. However, Pat Cummins kept KKR’s hopes alive. In 33 balls, Cummins amassed an impressive 64 runs. However, Cummin’s valiant knock went in vain as KKR fell short by 6 runs.
KKR is now 6th in the IPL 2021 points table. They need to win at least 6 out of their next 10 matches to qualify for the IPL 2021 playoffs. KKR’s next match in IPL 2021 is against RR on April 24th.