Despite an extended poor batting performance, KKR head coach Brendon McCullum backed captain Eoin Morgan to come out of his rut sooner rather than later and is not contemplating a captaincy change, at least till the end of their IPL 2021 campaign.
Morgan hasn’t been at his best since the start of the tournament earlier this year in India. The England left-hander has contributed only 111 runs over 13 innings at an average of 11.10 and strike-rate of 100.90.
Even though there have been suggestions from outside for Kolkata Knight Riders to make the ultimate move and drop their skipper on grounds of poor form, the Australian indicated the team management and ownership grounds stand firmly behind the skipper.
“He’s one of our senior players. He’s one of our international batters and in his own head he would have loved to contribute more runs. I think he’s captained the side really well,”
McCullum was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
While McCullum realises that a non-performing skipper holding one of the four important overseas slots is not an ideal situation for KKR, he is at the same time backing Morgan to overcome his prolonged rough patch soon.
“Look, you want some more runs from him there’s no doubt in there. You need runs from your overseas players and you particularly need in those key spots as well. (But) I am confident he will come alright,”
the head coach added.
Morgan had taken over KKR’s leadership from experienced wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik midway through the IPL 2020, a season he ended with 418 runs at an average of 41.80 and strike-rate of 138.41.
But he hasn’t quite managed to not let the extra responsibility affect his main skill this year. Even for England, the 34-year-old batter hasn’t been performing as consistently as he used to for a while now.
With his batting evidently on the wane, it would be a huge surprise if KKR choose to retain Morgan at next year’s mega auction, especially if they end the IPL 2021 without their third title.
After winning six and lost seven games this season, the Riders need to win their final league game on Thursday against the Rajasthan Royals to have a chance of securing a playoff berth.
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