Kolkata Knight Riders have roped in Blessing Muzarabani for the upcoming Indian Premier League season. The Zimbabwe national has been delivering for his country consistently in recent times. His ability to swing and seam the ball both ways and also make the most of the bounce that is available on the surface are his strengths. But former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra predicted that his natural length in Indian conditions might make him expensive.
“Although Blessing Muzarabani had an excellent World Cup, I am not very hopeful about him replicating that performance in the IPL. That’s what I feel. I could be completely wrong. I will put my hand up and say that I made a mistake, but the length at which he bowls mostly and the kind of wickets that are there in India, I am not 100 percent certain,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“That length doesn’t work at all at the death. It still works with the new ball, but if they have to bowl him one or two overs at the death, which they might have to, as Matheesha Pathirana, Mustafizur Rahman, Andre Russell and Harshit Rana aren’t there, so who will bowl at the death? If Blessing does that, he could be expensive. I am not very, very confident,” he added.
However, Head coach Abhishek Nayar on Wednesday termed the arrival of Zimbabwe pacer Muzarabani as a “blessing in disguise”, as the franchise looks to regroup after a forgettable last season and aim for a fourth IPL title.
Addressing the squad during their first training session at the Eden Gardens, Nayar made a pointed reference to the late replacement of Mustafizur Rahman, welcoming Muzarabani into the fold.
“Blessing, you are a blessing in disguise for us,” the 42-year-old former India all-rounder, who has been a longtime part of KKR set up under Gautam Gambhir, said in his opening pep-talk.
Muzarabani, who picked up 13 wickets in the T20 World Cup to finish joint second-highest, including a match-winning 4/17 against Australia, was the centre of attention at the session.
