The commencement of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is just a week away. The cash-rich league will be starting on 9th April 2021 and will be played till 30th May 2021. And now, former Indian opener, Aakash Chopra has made a prediction for the Kolkata Knight Riders’s (KKR) starting XI of the upcoming season.
Aakash Chopra felt that the exuberant Shubman Gill will b opening the innings alongside Rahul Tripathi. While Chopra felt that Nitish Rana can be expected to play at no.3, the likes of Eoin Morgan and Dinesh Karthik will come in at No.4 and No.5 respectively. Chopra also felt that big-hitting West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell should bat at No.6, while Aussie paceman Pat Cummins should walk in at No.7.
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In the video on his Youtube channel, Aakash Chopra said, “I will have Tripathi as an opener with Gill. I will keep Nitish Rana at No.3, Morgan at No.4, and Dinesh Karthik at No.5. This is your top five. Now you keep Andre Russell at No.6. If you keep him at No.6, the slight question will be whom will you bat at No.7. I would say try with Pat Cummins.”
Aakash Chopra felt that Varun Chakravarthy and Prasidh Krishna will be expected to feature in the playing XI as well. The former Indian batsman also felt that one out of Lockie Ferguson, Shakib Al Hasan, or Sunil Narine can be expected to start at the XI and it’ll depend on the conditions.
Chopra elaborated, “If you keep Pat Cummins at No.7, you will have four proper bowlers after that. Varun Chakravarthy and Prasidh Krishna can be there in that. That makes it two. You have picked only three overseas. So, depending on the pitch you can pick an overseas fast bowler like Lockie Ferguson. You can also pick Sunil Narine or Shakib Al Hasan. You can also play Kuldeep Yadav.”
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He further added, “They should just open up to the idea of dropping Sunil Narine if things are not working out. He is a big player but his bowling has not been that sharp since questions were raised about his action.”
Here is Aakash Chopra’s predicted KKR playing XI:
Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna, Lockie Ferguson/Sunil Narine/Shakib Al Hasan, Kuldeep Yadav.
