KKR not worried about openers; Captain calls them match-winners

The opening partnerships of Kolkata Knight Riders has not been that fruitful for the team so far except for one match. While talking about the same during the toss against LSG, Ajinkya Rahane called his regular openers match-winners and decided not to remark further.

Rahane on opening pair

The opening pair of Quinton de Kock and Sunil Narine did not work well for Kolkata Knight Riders in the past matches of IPL 2024. In the match against Rajasthan Royals, KKR opening pair added 41 runs at the top when Moeen Ali partnered with de Kock. Sunil Narine was unavailable for the match due to a niggle. Quinton de Kock singlehandedly won the match for the side with 97 off 61.

At the toss of KKR’s home match against the Lucknow Super Giants at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday, former New Zealand pacer Danny Morrison asked KKR captain about their opening combination. Rahane went on to support the decision saying, “People are going to talk about it, we know Quinny and Sunil are match-winners. We are not worried about them.”

KKR chasing a mammoth

For KKR, the opening pair of Phil Salt was one of the main reasons behind their triumph last year. This year the not so successful run of the opening pair so far has also impacted their other decisions in the batting.

Meanwhile, KKR have chosen to bowl first against Lucknow Super Giants. Chasing 239 runs, KKR still need 66 runs from 30 balls with five wickets in hand. The openers have today added 37 runs together for the first wicket. While asked about the bowling decision ahead of the match, KKR skipper said, “The wicket looks really good, it’s not that hot. The wicket won’t change much. One side boundary is small, that’s why we are bowling first. Everyone is looking forward to this game. This game is all about starting fresh, need to take the positives, need to take one step at a time.”

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