IPL 2020: Eoin Morgan to replace struggling Dinesh Karthik as KKR captain

Tags: Indian T20 League 2020, Kolkata XI, Krishnakumar Dinesh Karthik, Eoin Joseph Gerard Morgan

Published on: Oct 16, 2020

In an interesting development in the Kolkata Knight Riders camp, Dinesh Karthik has decided to handover the captaincy of the franchise to England's World Cup-winning skipper Eoin Morgan. KKR’s official website informed on Friday that Karthik wants to focus on his batting. The wicket-keeper batsman has had a tough time, managing only 108 runs from seven games at an average of 15.42

The KKR management, in its statement, thanked Karthik for his contribution as captain, and wished Morgan the best for his stint. Morgan’s first match as captain will be today itself as KKR take on the Mumbai Indians challenge at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

"We are fortunate to have leaders such as DK, who has always put the team first. It takes a lot of courage for someone like him to take a decision such as this. While we were surprised by his decision, we are respectful of his wishes. We are also fortunate that Eoin Morgan, the 2019 World Cup-winning captain, who has been the vice captain, is willing to lead the side going forward," Venky Mysore, CEO of KKR, statedon the official website

"DK and Eoin have worked brilliantly together during this tournament and although Eoin takes over as captain, this is effectively a role swap and we expect that this transition will work in a seamless manner," he further added.

KKR have had a mixed IPL 2020 season with four wins and three losses, and are at number four in the points table. While Karthik hasn’t done much apart from a match-winning fifty against Kings XI Punjab, Morgan has played some key knocks in the middle order. He has 175 runs to his name from seven matches at an average of 35 and a strike-rate of 129.62. He is the second highest run-scorer for KKR after opener Shubman Gill.

--Renin Wilben

Related News