Gautam Gambhir passes verdict of KKR team for IPL 2020

Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir, who also captained Kolkata Knight Riders from 2011 to 2017 and guided them to two IPL titles was not entirely happy with the squad that the franchise picked in the auctions that were held on Thursday. The Dinesh Karthik-led side bought Eoin Morgan for INR 5.25 crore and then purchased Pat Cummins for a whopping INR 15.5 crore. While the two buys are great picks according to the left-hander, he believes that KKR lack enough back-ups.

“The positive part about Pat Cummins is that you can expect him to take wickets with the new ball because he has a good swing and he bowls at good pace, he might be a concern for the death overs but he has good bowling skills and he has been with Kolkata Knight Riders in 2014 and has improved a lot since then,” Gambhir said while speaking at Star Sports’ Cricket Live show.

“I hope he plays all the matches and makes the team win 3-4 matches single handedly because he has been bought for such a high amount,” he added.

“But if you look at the squad as a whole, there is no backup for Andre Russell, Eoin Morgan, Sunil Narine who is a one of a kind bowler. If Eoin Morgan suffers an injury, the team has no middle order overseas batsman,” he said.

He also added that the side should have looked to pick up a seaming all-rounder as a like-for-like replacement to Andre Russell, who is prone to injuries.

“The management could have gone for a Mitchell Marsh or Marcus Stoinis who would have given more depth to the squad, so you have to hope all these players are there for the entire series,” said Gambhir.

“If Pat Cummins suffers an injury, there is a replacement with Lockie Fergusan but with the top order there is no replacement for Kolkata Knight Riders,” the former KKR skipper observed.

KKR also purchased Tom Banton and Chris Green as the other two overseas players for the next auctions.

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