IPL 2022 Season Review: KKR fail to hit purple patch in a season marred with too many changes – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

2021 runners-up Kolkata Knight Riders hoped to go one better in IPL 2022 after a strong mega auction saw them invest heavily in finding a new leader in Shreyas Iyer for a big sum of Rs 12.25 crore. He was almost immediately announced the captain of the two-time IPL champions.

Close to three months later, the side didn’t just fail to make the play-off stages but also revealed a paucity of harmony among the top brass of the KKR management.

File photo of KKR captain Shreyas Iyer (centre) with KKR coaching staff. Sportzpics

Finishing seventh in the points table with just 12 points and eight losses was in stark contrast to their last year’s performance that saw the Eoin Morgan-led side win five of their last six matches to set up a final against eventual winners Chennai Super Kings. Therefore raises the question if the KKR think tank made a mistake by not retaining Morgan at the auction.

Shreyas’s captaincy troubles with many decision-makers

Whether it’s Iyer venting out his anger in public at head coach Brandon McCullum and his assistant Abhishek Nayar over an alleged change in batting line-up or mentioning CEO Venky Mysore’s alleged involvement in picking the playing XI amid regular slashing and chopping of the line-up, the middle-order batter it seemed had troubled times at the helm of the side.

It only pointed towards the lack of control or freedom Shreyas had over the selection while not being in sync with coach McCullum’s ideas, who left the franchise for England’s coaching role at the end of the season. All this reflected badly on Shreyas’s leadership ability despite being a proven captain who took Delhi Capitals to 2020 final.

Shreyas, crucially, excelled with the bat as he finished the team’s top scorer at an average of 30.85. This was still a downgrade in comparison to his 2020 campaign where he amassed 519 runs while leading the Capitals.

His KKR predecessor Morgan, on the other hand, was miserable with the bat last year with 133 runs in 17 games at an average of mere 11. But being more at comfort with ‘great man-manager’ McCullum’s horses for courses approach, the 35-year-old Englishman found KKR’s winning combination after initial hiccups in the campaign. Of course, his poor batting display cost him his spot at the franchise but his captaincy calls in crunch situations and way of handling youngsters like Venkatesh Iyer and Varun Chakravarthy were exemplary.

Venkatesh and Varun fade after a strong season

In fact, Venkatesh and Varun were the two decisive factors last year as they changed the fortune of KKR in the second phase in the UAE. Averaging 41-plus over 10 games last year, Venkatesh brought stability to the side’s top order by forging a formidable partnership with Shubman Gill at the top.

His flamboyance didn’t just earn him KKR retention but also a Team India call-up.  However, less than a year later, the 27-year-old southpaw’s batting was a far cry with a lamentable 182 runs over 12 games.

The same was true for mystery spinner Chakravarthy, who could only claim six wickets over 11 games in stark comparison to his 18 wickets in 17 games last season. His economy during the same period inflated from 6.58 to 8.51, rendering him ineffective as KKR’s strike bowler over the last two seasons.

Lack of match-winning bowlers

Varun’s downfall had a direct impact on KKR’s wicket-taking ability as the side took 76 of the 140 wickets  — excluding run-outs — up for grab during the league stages of the tournament; the lowest among all the franchises competing. Sunil Narine was the team’s most economical bowler at a brilliant 5.57 but couldn’t convert his tight spells into wickets with just nine scalps in 14 games; his second-lowest in a full IPL season since 2012.

Among the pacers, Umesh Yadav (16 wickets in 12 games) started off things well with some match-winning efforts earlier in the season and was touted to have returned with a new avatar with the objective to find a spot in India’s T20 World Cup. However, that soon faded away as after taking eight wickets in three matches, it took him a further nine games to emulate the figures.

The franchise’s highest-wicket taker Andre Russell (17 wickets in 14 games) also blew hot and cold in the season. Given his economy rate of 10-plus, The Trinidadian failed to earn the trust of the captain, who used him sparely for just 28 overs in the league stages.

However, it was Pat Cummins, who disappointed the most with his alarming 11.57 economy rate couldn’t hold his place in the playing XI for long despite his pyrotechnics with the bat that saw him score runs at a strike rate of 262.50 in five appearances couldn’t be of much help for struggling batting order, barring his 15-ball 56 against Mumbai Indians.

Inconsistent batting order

Needless to say, the talks of including Cummins as a batter in the team wouldn’t have stirred up if not for the dismal batting performance by the KKR top-order. Reeling to find their opening combination with a failing Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane, the KKR think tank tried changing the opening pair eight times during the league stages. Much to the dismay of the fans, none of the opening combinations crossed the 50-mark while losing wickets during powerplay became a norm.

The onus always fell on the likes of Nitish Rana (361 runs) and Shreyas to bail them out of trouble. The duo did a fair job by scoring 750-plus runs together and were regular features at No. 3 and 4 respectively.

Russell often did the job as he scored one half-century and four 40-plus innings but more often than not his innings turned match winners.

Things did fall into place at the fag end of the season when Rinku Singh finally made his opportunities count with a late burst. The diminutive figure scored 174 runs over seven innings to make a case for himself but it was too little too late for the purple-gold-clad outfit, who are yet to find their winning combination.

Saying that, KKR carry the reputation of unpredictability in the competition and often blooms to life after a bad season or two. And with an experienced IPL captain at the helm, they could turn things around, given they inject some stability in the thought process.

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