Dubai: The second phase of IPL-2021 is scheduled to begin September 19. Among the teams, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are currently in seventh position in the eight-team points table. Under the captaincy of Eoin Morgan, the Knights have won only two of the seven matches they have played so far in this edition of the tournament.
But then can the poor show be attributed to performance only. May be not really, if one hears what Kuldeep Yadav has to say. Well the spinner’s recent outburst proves that not all is well within the KKR camp.
The management of the Knights is hoping for a turnaround of fortunes during the second phase of the event. However, for any side to succeed, team spirit and morale are the two most important aspects. It now seems that these two have gone missing from KKR if spinner Kuldeep Yadav’s allegations are to be believed.
Kuldeep has alleged that there is distinct lack of man management in KKR. Also there is no communication between the skipper and him. “A player’s confidence depends on communication with the skipper. However, I do not have any form of communication with Morgan,” the left-arm chinaman bowler has been quoted as saying in Akash Chopra’s YouTube channel.
Kuldeep has gone on to say that the management has never bothered to inform him as to why he is not featuring in final XI. “Even when we get dropped from the Indian team, the BCCI talks to the players. We are told what is expected from us and what aspects we should work on to improve,” Kuldeep said.
“However, in case of KKR that never happens. I have been never informed why I am being dropped, what the captain or the team expects from me. There have been many occasions when I thought I should have been in the playing XI. I have never got the answers as to why I have been dropped,” the bowler added.
Kuldeep has gone on to say that ‘franchise’ cricket is vastly different from what happens when one plays for the country. “Maybe this lack of communication is because the franchises know that the event will last for a little over two months. So they do not really bother to delve into a player’s thought process,” asserted Kuldeep.
“If you have a long-term association with the coach or skipper of a side, then it’s easy to perform. You know what they want for you and prepare accordingly. However, it has never happened with me during my tenure at the Knights under Morgan’s captaincy,” Kuldeep signed off.
Kuldeep has also alleged that lack of playing time in KKR probably affected his selection to the Indian team for the T20 World Cup. “I don’t have any idea whether Morgan is aware of my capabilities or how he assesses me as a player,” Kuldeep said.
KKR resume their IPL-2021 campaign September 23 against Mumbai Indians (MI). If the problems within the team are not sorted out by then, fortunes may not change much for the Kolkata side. So far the Knights have used Varun Chakravarthy and Harbhajan Singh as their spinning options. However, Harbhajan has rarely bowled his full quota of four overs in the matches he has played.