IPL 2021: Brendon McCullum confirms return of Shakib Al Hasan for KKR vs SRH, sheds light on Eoin Morgan and Venkatesh Iyer’s contrasting forms – Kolkata Knight Riders faced 5 wickets defeat against Punjab Kings in the 45th match of the IPL 2021 here at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Friday. After this defeat, KKR have found themselves in a do or die situation. In the post-match press conference, KKR coach Brendon McCullum revealed that Shakib Al Hasan will play the next match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“Shakib will soon be available as well. We have a lot of options. Tim Seifert has been exceptional in the CPL 2021. We wanted to strengthen the middle order. Shakib is always in the mix when you talk about selection. His skills set with left-arm bowling and batting, we consider him as top 3 batters but definitely, he can fit in the middle order somewhere. He will be in the mix for sure in the next game,” Brendon McCullum said.
KKR’s star all-rounder Andre Russell suffered an injury during the game against CSK and he has missed two matches on the trot now. KKR missed him tonight as Venkatesh Iyer had to bowl the last over.
A look at the Points Table after Match 45 of #VIVOIPL.
Which two teams do you reckon will join #CSK and #DelhiCapitals out there? pic.twitter.com/AuxGtgMXtk
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 1, 2021
“When you take out Russell, it’s always difficult to balance your side. We got home in Sharjah but we felt a batter short. We felt if we are able to play the extra batter, we can utilise the bowling of Venkatesh Iyer and Rana, who is a very cagey bowler. When you take one of your big players out, who happens to be an allrounder, you always have that delicate balance to try and balance your side. You have to either go with your batting strong or bowling strong. In hindsight, when we got 160-odd, it would have been nice to have another bowler,” McCullum added.
KKR captain Eoin Morgan is going through a bad patch with the bat as he has not scored runs in IPL’s UAE leg. Morgan has managed just 17 runs in his last four IPL innings and just two double-figure scores in eleven innings in the ongoing edition so far, emerging out as the biggest FLOP of the tournament.
“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,” McCullum said. “I think he’s captained the side really well. But 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. I am confident he will come alright. Some guys are really going well,” KKR coach said while backing Eoin Morgan
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KKR will now face SRH and RR in their next two must-win games.
