KKR vs CSK IPL 2020: Former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Gautam Gambhir, who had captained KKR to 2 IPL titles, has now revealed that Dinesh Karthik should not come ahead of Russell and Morgan in the batting-order. He had also backed Tripathi to bat up the order. He feels that Dinesh Karthik is under tremendous pressure after Kolkata Knight Riders 18-run loss to Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2020 match on Saturday. Many questions raised on his tactics for their Saturday's loss against Delhi Capitals. Karthik performance with the bat also has been not an impression at all till now in the ongoing fantasy cricket league of Dream11 IPL 2020.
Read Also - KKR vs CSK Live Score Updates: IPL Today Match Probable XI, How and Where to Watch
#CSK gearing up for their clash against #KKR.#Dream11IPL #KKRvCSK pic.twitter.com/YRFixEJ6EQ
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 7, 2020
Gambhir said "Rahul Tripathi goes up the order, Dinesh Karthik plays at no. 6, not before Morgan and Russell. Probably Sunil Narine goes to bat at 7 or 8. If Morgan bats no 4 and Russell at 5 and Dinesh Karthik to follow," Gambhir told ESPNcricinfo. He also recognised that Karthik's decision to give the ball to spinner Varun Chakravarthy (1/49) was a "miscalculated" one. He added "Your best bowlers need to ball the 18th, 19th and 20th over, unfortunately, it didn't happen. Gautam Gambhir also praised Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer for his brilliant inning of 88(38), which consisted of 7 fours and 6 sixes. "We keep talking about how he plays spin but today he showed that he can dominate fast bowlers as well," Gambhir said.
Karthik has just scored 37 runs in his 4 innings in this edition of IPL 2020. He is averaging as low as 9.25 with the bat and his strike-rate of 100 has also been under scrutiny. He suggests that Dinesh Karthik promoted Andre Russell ahead of him against Delhi Capitals but he himself came in ahead of Eoin Morgan. Batting at number 5 position, Karthik just scored 6 (8) and departed at a time when the asking rate was at around 14.
Meanwhile, Eoin Morgan walked in at number 6 and played a blistering knock of 44(18) which take KKR to very close to DC's massive total of 228 runs. Rahul Tripathi, batting at 8th position gave good support to Morgan and finished with 36 off 16. KKR finished at 210/8 in their 20 overs quota and it was obvious that a handy contribution from Karthik could have seen KKR cross the line.
Read more: IPL Points Table 2020: Team Ranking, Orange Cap and Purple Cap holders in IPL
Watch this brilliant effort by MI's sub-fielder Anukul Roy:
ANU-COOL!
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 6, 2020
A stunning catch by the substitute fielder, Anukul Roy to dismiss Mahipal Lomror.#Dream11IPL pic.twitter.com/feaYjH4RNg
Two-time IPL champions Dinesh Karthik's KKR will take on MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings in the biggest rivalry of this season today at Sheikh Zayed International Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi. The match will be held at 6 PM Local Time and 7:30 IST.