Kolkata Knight Riders former captain Gautam Gambhir parted ways with the franchise in 2017 and the question was who will lead the side now. Gambhir leaving the side was a huge bummer as he lead the side to two titles. The team surprised everyone by picking wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik as the new leader.
Dinesh Karthik has had a lot of shifting in his IPL career stints with Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai Indians, Kings XI Punjab, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Lions showed he had been around for long but never settled into a squad. Although it was a huge shock to the fans, DK was a changed man and knew his game very well. His performance was almost about to get him back in the national squad and he led KKR to playoffs in 2008 which rubbished all the doubts.
“The team hasn’t quite got over the line, but I think DK is in that stage in his leadership where he’s almost ready to really mature and to really take ownership of the Knight Riders set up and back his judgement,” McCullum told. Well, quite a few things. You’ve got to break DK down a little bit into different parts to understand this. I think first and foremost, wicketkeeping. He’s up there with the very best wicket keepers in India. Then you move on to his batting and he’s as good and as adaptable in any role.
England World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan was brought by the franchise in the auction and he will be in action for his old franchise. McCullum mentioned how he wanted to build a layer of leadership around Karthik to help him better. “What we tried to do throughout the auction process as well as to provide him with some strong leadership on the field. We’ve obviously already got the likes of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine, but to have added Pat Cummins and Eoin Morgan in particular to that leadership group, and also provide him behind the scenes with some support staff who will be able to assist DK as well
“I think there’ll be a nice layer of leadership around DK where he’s able to really prosper and touch all of the members of the Kolkata line up to try and get the very best out of themselves,” the former KKR opener added.
