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In an eyebrow raising mid-season move on Friday (October 16), Eoin Morgan, England’s World Cup winning captain has taken over the leadership roles in the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for the remaining part of IPL 2020 as former captain Dinesh Karthik has decided to step down “with a view to focus on his batting and contributing more to the team’s cause.”
Under Karthik KKR have won four out of their seven matches in the IPL 2020 and currently placed at No. 4 in the point’s table. However, on multiple occasions Karthik’s leadership was found out, especially against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the last outing where KKR suffered a humiliating defeat by 82 runs.
As a batsman too Karthik hasn’t been successful in this season so far, averaging just 15.42 for his 108 runs in seven innings. Hence, the pressure was mounting on him.
However, if KKR’s version is to be believed, the team management has been “surprised” by this decision of Karthik.
“We are fortunate to have leaders such as DK, who has always put the team first,” says KKR CEO Venky Mysore in a press release. “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, he added further.
On Friday, KKR will be taking on defending champions and table toppers Mumbai under the captaincy of Morgan.