The Kolkata Knight Riders find themselves in a huge soup this season, especially with their overseas recruits. Lynn, Russell and Johnson find themselves on the sidelines, while Starc is also struggling with fitness issues on his tour to South Africa.
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And while it looked like injury issues would be the only major problem that KKR will have to deal with in the build up to the 11th IPL season, they franchise has been dealt with a ‘Narine problem’, as he has had his action reported once again.
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KKR already don’t have a very strong Indian setup and heavily rely on their foreign recurits to pull them through and with a dark cloud hovering over almost all of them, KKR will need to sort their issues out.
KKR CEO, Venky Mysore, though is hopeful of Lynn, Russell and Starc being fit for KKR’s opener on April 8th.
“I think that Starc report was not necessarily very accurate. He is absolutely fine. It’s a bit unfortunate with the injuries. All the reports we are getting, they are making very good progress. Fingers crossed,” Mysore said.
Lynn dislocated his shoulder during the T20 tri series down under and opted out of the PSL as he had to undergo surgery.
Andre Rusell, who had returned to cricket after a year due to a doping violation, was ruled out of the PSL due to a hamstring injury.
“We are expecting them to play on April 8. They will join the camp,” Mysore added.
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When Dinesh Karthik was selected as the captain, the decision did raise a few eyebrows as Karthik wasn’t considered good enough to lead the franchise. However, Karthik’s heroics in the Nidahas Trophy final meant that KKR fans had this renewed sense of confidence about their team and no doubt, Venky Mysore too was delighted with what transpired at the Premadasa Stadium.
“In eight balls, he has made us look like geniuses. But we were convinced even before that, that he is the right choice for us,” Mysore expressed.
“He has lot of freshness, lot of experience and he is a class player. With a wicketkeeper, batsman and captain you get three in one there.
“He has the flexibility to play under any situation. His calmness struck me. I have spent a lot of time with him recently, and when he came in to bat he seemed like he was confident he was going to win it. It bodes well for us also,” he added.
KKR have recruited three U-19 stars in Nagarkotti, Mavi and Gill and Mysore is confident of KKR helping them out during their transition phase into the big league.
“I have been spending some time with them and I spoke to Rahul Dravid (head coach) even before the auctions, they have got some amazing talent and skill.”
“We are going to do everything to make it comfortable for them.. that transition you know. We have got a good combination of very experienced cricketers, at the same time some youth so hopefully they will all come together,” Mysore concluded.
