Sabyasachi Bagchi: Kolkata Knight Riders Coach Jaques Kallis on Tuesday admitted that the decision to send Andre Russell lower down the order in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2019) clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday may not be a wise move. Rinku Singh was promoted ahead of an in form Russell in Hyderabad.
According to Kallis, “Rinku went in at the 8th over and we certainly did not want him (Russell) to go out so early. Yeah in the hindsight we could have sent in a bit early.”
The KKR Coach also admitted that it was a collective decision of the team management to not send the powerful Jamaican too early in the innings.
“The captain and management discuss about the batting order. Like I said if a situation arises then Andre or for that matter someone else can come up the order. Perhaps try one or two things differently,” said Kallis to the media in Kolkata.
The two time IPL champions find themselves in a must win situation in their remaining matches to qualify for the play-offs. But the former Knight is hopeful that his boys will bounce back.
“We have done it before; we have won eleven games in a row couple of seasons back. It is certainly possible. Guys will train hard and we will be up for the game. Hopefully we can repeat that performance again,” said the KKR coach.
On being asked whether there is any negative vibes in dressing room, Kallis said, “The guys are frustrated. I wouldn’t say negative as they do realize that we have an outside chance of qualifying for the play offs. In this format the little percentages you need to improve in order to turn these things and we are not far off.”
The former South African cricketer rubbished any talks of Dinesh Karthik being stripped off captaincy. “This sort of discussion hasn’t been brought up,” signed off a frustrated looking KKR coach.