Ravichandran Ashwin didn’t mince his words while criticising the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for their tactics despite their comprehensive eight-wicket win against the Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday, May 8.
The KKR bowlers were excellent after Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and elected to field first. On a small ground, the three-time champions restricted the opposition to 142/8. In reply, the visitors lost two early wickets of Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi. However, Finn Allen’s belligerent century and Cameron Green’s supporting hand helped the Knights chase the paltry target in 14.2 overs.
Ashwin, however, opined that KKR are lacking tempo at the top of the order while batting. He suggested that Green should bat in the top 3 as he is not a middle-order batter or a finisher.
“KKR have to find a way to keep the tempo on top [on the batting front]. Cameron Green should bat in the top 3; he’s not a No. 5 or 6 batter. You can’t finish with him,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Ashwin mentioned that the KKR middle-order has not fired as a unit. He stated that the team needs to find batters who can bat according to match situations, like Rinku Singh. In the end, the cricketer-turned-expert said that the Knights have what it takes to win their last four matches in the league phase.
“They have to find batters who can bat at different tempos like Rinku Singh. Yes, KKR can win their remaining four games,” the 39-year-old opined.
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While Ashwin praised Finn Allen for his unbeaten 100 off 47 deliveries, he said that the combination of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy is the biggest speciality in the Knights’ lineup. Ashwin also mentioned how things are falling in place for them in the back end of the season after having dealt with injury and form struggles earlier.
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“Finn Allen has the ability. In such games, he will break the net run rate (NRR). The biggest speciality about KKR is Sunil-Chakaravarthy’s partnership. If they come together, they will win the tournament. The problem was that Varun was being taken for runs; in the last two games, he has come out [of it]. He’s put in a performance because of which Sunil Narine’s bowling has started to shine,” Ashwin said.
“Their plan [at the auction] was Sunil-Chakarvarathy, Cameron Green, Matheesha Pathirana, and Mustafizur Rahman. They would have been in a very, very strong position. It was unlucky for them that Pathirana got ruled out and Rahman was out. Back half of the tournament, they are getting things right. Another thing was that Rinku Singh was playing too much down in the batting order,” he added.
