Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan has had a horror run in IPL 2021. His form has worsened since the tournament resumed in the United Arab Emirates and the England captain has managed as few as 17 runs in the 4 matches in the Middle East. In a shocking stat, Morgan hasn't even touched the double figures mark once and thus there are increasing calls to remove him as the captain.
Among the voices who want Morgan to be sacked as the captain- as only then he could be dropped from the XI as a batter, cricketer turned commentator Aakash Chopra has suggested Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan as an option. He justified his claim by saying that desperate times call for desperate measure and so Shakib could be a handy option with the bat and also bowl his quota of 4 overs when needed.
"Desperate times, desperate measures. Can #KKR contemplate making Shakib the captain for the remaining games? Nothing against Morgan but if runs aren’t coming, they simply aren’t. Can happen to the best of players. Shakib would give a few overs alongside his batting. Thoughts?," he wrote.
Check out the tweet here:
Chopra's remark comes after Morgan departed for his ninth single-digit score in IPL 2021 against the Punjab Kings on Friday. His form seemed to have cost the team the match as they had gotten off to a good start but the middle order could not score as freely as they would have liked in the last 5 overs with even the skipper making 2 from 2.
To make matters worse for him, Morgan even dropped a catch in the first over of the Punjab chase, giving life to Mayank Agarwal who was on 0. The Punjab opener made sure that he made the most of it and departed only after he had scored 70 runs in the 8.5 overs along with KL Rahul and by the time he got out, the stage was set for a Punjab win.
As a result of Punjab's win, both Kolkata and Punjab are now at 10 points from 12 matches but Mumbai Indians seem to be having an advantage as they have the same number of points having played a game less. Their match against Delhi Capitals later on Saturday thus becomes a huge one in the context of the points table.