Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif felt Kolkata Knight Riders should do away with their lefty-right batting strategy
Gautam Gambhir has been fond of the age-old tactic of maintaining a left-right batting combination. He has used the ploy on many occasions in India's white-ball cricket after assuming the role of head coach and introduced it when he came back to the Kolkata Knight Riders last IPL season as their mentor. Despite his departure at the end of a memorable stint last May, KKR stuck to the plan for IPL 2025. But former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif felt their plan had fallen apart this season.
Speaking in a video posted on his social media page, Kaif lashed out at the KKR management for their stubbornness over maintaining the left-right combination in the ongoing season. Rinku Singh, a left-hander who was one of their premier finishers last season, even walked out at No. 8 against Lucknow Super Giants earlier this month. Kaif even urged the Ajinkya Rahane-led side to identify their main player and clarify their batters' roles.
"There is an old saying that lefty-right has to be at the crease. Today, KKR tried to maintain that, and in the process, their main player was not sent up the order. But you must first decide who your main player is in this KKR team. Is it Rinku or Russell or Iyer or Moeen Ali? Who is it, and what are the roles? And because of this left-right thing, any batter is coming in at any batting position. Rinku was batting at No. 8 against Lucknow, all because of the left-right thing for which he was sent so late, although KKR lost the match by just four runs. But he barely got any deliveries to face. But this thing is not working for KKR," he said.
The veteran India cricketer also reckoned KKR should deploy their big hitters early in the innings and avoid what Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer managed on Monday against Gujarat Titans in Kolkata. The duo had struggled through the middle overs, scoring 41 runs in 36 balls in their third-wicket stand before both departed in successive overs.
"I feel, in case of big chases, they should just send their big hitters early and tell them to play their natural game. They might get all out for a low score even, but they played so slowly yesterday in the middle overs during the partnership between Iyer and Rahane, and Narine struggled to score. Also, I feel that KKR should have stuck with De Kock, who won the Player of the Match award against the Rajasthan Royals. Again, why was De Kock dropped? Because they wanted a right-handed batter. Lefty-righty ke chakkar mein naiya dub gayi KKR ki (Their left-right plan fell apart). This is not the first time. They did it against Lucknow, and now they lost badly against Gujarat," he added.
