Former Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Eoin Morgan reckons the team will not drop under-fire, Andre Russell, despite his low string of scores in the ongoing Indian Premier League. The hard-hitter, who is known to change the match on its head with his pyrotechnics, has scored only 36 runs in the three matches he has played so far for KKR.
Andre Russell scored 35 runs in the opening match of the season for KKR against Punjab Kings. But he returned with scores of 0 and 1 against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Titans respectively in the following matches.
Furthermore, Nitish Rana hasn’t thrown the ball to Russell due to injury concerns.
“I don’t really see that happening. Both, sitting here as a fan and certainly having spent a couple of years alongside him. What he adds is a huge amount of value. He scored runs last year. He was their leading wicket-taker. One of the most impressive thing in KKR right now is they are not relying on him, or Narine, and we shouldn’t forget that they’re missing their captain as well,” said Morgan while speaking to Hindustan Times.
The former England skipper added that KKR is not solely relying on the shoulders of their big players. In their previous match against the defending champions Gujarat Titans, Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh had delivered for the team.
“They’re not solely relying on their big players. That does take the pressure of expectations away, and allow them the time they need. When the sides go away, they rely on senior players to do well. When you look at the bottom of the table, those sides have solely relied on their senior players to do well. That doesn’t happen with KKR,” said Morgan.
On the other hand, the team’s gun pacer Lockie Ferguson also put his weight behind Andre Russell.
“I don’t think Andre is underperforming. Look at the last game. He has tried what he can do. Nice to be honest,” said Ferguson in the pre-match press conference.
Kolkata Knight Riders will lock horns against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 18th match of the ongoing Indian Premier League 2023 at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Friday.
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