Veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has added that the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have gelled together as a unit this season. He also credited their mentor Gautam Gambhir for extracting the best out of every player as well. However, KKR will take on the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Qualifier 1 in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, May 21. While the winner of the game will reach the final in Chennai on Sunday, May 26, the loser will play against the winner of the Eliminator in Qualifier 2 as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said, “This team has played very well as a unit. Everyone has very good clarity about their roles. Gautam Gambhir’s leadership, coaching and mentorship have liberated this team. It has brought the best out of every player, whether it is Sunil Narine or Andre Russell.”
However, while reflecting on KKR’s batting, he shared that Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh and Venkatesh Iyer have been in great form. With 461 runs at a strike rate of 182.93 in 12 innings, Narine is KKR’s top run-getter in IPL 2024. Venkatesh, Russell and Ramandeep have done well in crunch moments. He also added that Harshit Rana and Varun Chakaravarthy, apart from Sunil Narine, have been the positives in the bowling unit this season.
“Sunil Narine has been unstoppable. Andre Russell has been absolutely outstanding. Ramandeep Singh is beautiful, how well he is batting, whenever he bats, he does well. Venkatesh Iyer has also played a few very good knocks,” Chopra said. “In bowling, Harshit Rana is my favorite bowler. Harshit Rana is the best uncapped Indian fast bowler according to me. Varun Chakaravarthy’s stature has grown so much, the way he has bowled and the number of times he has picked up wickets. This ground is slightly big as well. The ball might also get stuck a little here since we have reached almost the end of the tournament.”
“Andre Russell’s bowling – be slightly wary of him because the side boundaries are big and bouncers work at this ground. When they played against this team last time in Kolkata, SRH couldn’t win despite Klaasen’s good knock, and there also Andre Russell performed well. He scored a half-century,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
