Under fire for his strategic calls throughout the tenure of Indian Premier League 2020, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Dinesh Karthik has decided hand over the captaincy ropes to England's World Cup winning captain Eoin Morgan. Karthik had come under severe criticism for several tactical failures at the initial days of the tournament and was called out on social media by fans and experts for batting ahead of Morgan and Rahul Tripathi who are famed for their batting prowess in the middle and the top order respectively.
However, things seemed under control in the last two out of the three after KKR managed to stage unreal coupes against Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab. However in the hindsight, that was probably undone by the defeat against Bangalore where Tripathi once again batted at the lower order.
KKR CEO Venky Mysore said in a statement released by the franchise that it takes a lot of courage to take such a decision midway through the tournament and he is thankful that DK put the team first.
“We are fortunate to have leaders such as DK, who has always put the team first. It takes a lot of courage for someone like him to take a decision such as this. While we were surprised by his decision, we are respectful of his wishes. We are also fortunate that Eoin Morgan, the 2019 World Cup-winning captain, who has been the vice captain, is willing to lead the side going forward. DK and Eoin have worked brilliantly together during this tournament and although Eoin takes over as captain, this is effectively a role swap and we expect that this transition will work in a seamless manner,” Mysore said.
Stepping aside from captaincy midway into an IPL season has not taken place for the first time with Karthik’s case and rather some of the best in business has also done it in the previous editions. Ricky Ponting had handed over the leadership of Mumbai Indians to Rohit Sharma in the 2013 edition of the IPL while Gautam Gambhir who had made a return to his first IPL franchise- the then Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) had handed over the reins to Shreyas Iyer in IPL 2018.
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