IPL 2021: KKR could be without ace fast bowler once season resumes, says Karthik
IPL 2021: One team that needs to get its act together after the season resumed is Kolkata Knight Riders. The two-time champions are currently placed 7th in the points table and have won just two out of their seven matches.
The Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) season is expected to be completed in September-October this year with the BCCI deciding to take the tournament to UAE, where it was safely held last year.
The tournament was indefinitely postponed on May 4th after several players and staff members of the franchises started testing positive for Covid-19.
One team that needs to get its act together after the season resumed is Kolkata Knight Riders. The two-time champions are currently placed 7th in the points table and have won just two out of their seven matches. Only Punjab Kings have fared worse so far.
But KKR will have its task cut out if foreign players don't turn up for the postponed schedule. The team depends heavily on stars like captain Eoin Morgan, West Indians Andre Russell and Sunil Narine and star paceman Pat Cummins.
Former captain and wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik has revealed that Cummins has already clarified that he will not be able to join the team for the September-October window, but he is hopeful of England's limited overs skipper Morgan to join.
“Cummins has said he is not coming but there’s still three months and Morgan may still be available. But if I am asked to lead, I don’t have a problem,” Karthik told The Times of India.
Karthik led the team to a play-offs finish in his first season with the team in 2018, but KKR have found the going tough thereafter and were edged out of a play-off berth on net run-rate in the 2019 and 2020 season.