Former Indian cricketer and popular commentator Aakash Chopra didn’t shy away from saying that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had a poor run in the recently concluded IPL 2020. KKR had finished at disappointing fifth position after the league stage, thus failing to qualify for the IPL Playoffs.
On his YouTube show ‘Super Over’, Chopra said that KKR should make some bold decisions if they wanted to emerge as a strong contender in the upcoming IPL seasons. The former Indian opener said that KKR should retain just three players from their current squad and look to build their team around them
“In my opinion, the Kolkata Knight Riders should not retain too many players. I will take only three names - Shubman Gill, Andre Russell and Varun Chakravarthy,” said Chopra.
While opening batsman Shubman Gill and mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy had stellar performances in IPL 2020, two-time MVP Andre Russell was dismal by his own lofty standards. However, Chopra said that KKR should retain him as he is a proven match winner and if released, then he will be too costly to buy again.
“They have to retain Varun Chakravarthy in any case and if they leave Andre Russell, he will be too expensive to buy again, so they should retain him as well,” added Chopra.
If such drastic changes were not enough, Chopra even vouched for KKR to release two of the biggest names amidst their ranks – Pat Cummins and Sunil Narine.
“They can release Sunil Narine and Pat Cummins as a lot of money will get freed up when they release these two players,” advised Chopra, who himself was a part of the KKR squad in the inaugural edition of IPL.
While Sunil Narine is a two-time IPL MVP, Cummins was the most expensive buy of the tournament in the previous auctions at Rs 15.5 crores.
