Pat Cummins (L) and Aaron Finch.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have made as many as three changes for their Saturday’s IPL 2022 clash against Gujarat Titans (GT). Opener Aaron Finch, all-rounder Pat Cummins and wicketkeeper Sheldon Jackson are all missing out.
Skipper Shreyas Iyer didn’t specify the reasons for each player’s omission at the toss. He said only that the team has had “a few niggles” which have forced the changes.
These are interesting calls. After a poor start to his KKR campaign, Finch looked in stunning touch against Rajasthan Royals, scoring a belligerent 58 (28). The Australian white-ball captain has been replaced by English wicketkeeper Sam Billings, who plays in the middle-order and wasn’t fit to play the last few matches.
KKR had changed their opening combination against the Royals with Venkatesh Iyer shifting to the lower-order and Sunil Narine opening alongside Finch. They’ll have to change it again now, which doesn’t bode well for stability in the team.
Similarly, Cummins is out of the team after just four games. He has been replaced by New Zealand’s Tim Southee. Southee had started the season for KKR and performed as Iyer’s go-to bowler in difficult situations. He was left out after Cummins’ return. The Aussie was more expensive with the ball but singlehandedly won the match against Mumbai Indians with his unbelievable 15-ball 56.
Jackson wasn’t able to recreate his domestic form for the two-time champions. His batting position felt a bit too low for him. He has been replaced by Rinku Singh, a middle-order batter from Aligarh more suited to the finishing role. The 24-year-old has featured in 10 IPL matches for the team, scoring 77 runs at an average of 11.00.
KKR’s playing 11 without Pat Cummins and Aaron Finch
The playing 11 now sports a similar look to the start of their season where they got most of the wins.
Playing 11: Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer(c), Nitish Rana, Sam Billings(w), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Tim Southee, Shivam Mavi, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy
GT have also made one change. Skipper Hardik Pandya returned to the team at the cost of the out-of-form Vijay Shankar.
Playing 11: Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya(c), Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Alzarri Joseph, Lockie Ferguson, Yash Dayal, Mohammed Shami
