IPL 2021: Aakash Chopra Picks His Starting KKR Playing XI

Former Indian opener-turned commentator Aakash Chopra has picked his Kolkata Knight Riders [KKR] starting XI ahead of the 14th season of the IPL.

One of the major issues that KKR has last season was their inability to zero in on a consistent top-5. They made too many changes to their batting unit and the lack of clarity in roles was clearly visible.

In his playing 11, Aakash Chopra has picked four Indians- Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, and Dinesh Karthik- and skipper Eoin Morgan as his top-5.

“I will have Tripathi as an opener with Gill. I will keep Nitish Rana at No.3, Morgan at No.4 and Dinesh Karthik at No.5. This is your top five,” said Aakash Chopra in a video on his Facebook page.

Chopra kept swashbuckling all-rounder Andre Russell at the No.6 spot followed by Pat Cummins, who may not have had a brilliant season with the ball last season but he certainly showed his big-hitting prowess.

“Now you keep Andre Russell at No.6. If you keep him at No.6, the slight question will be whom will you bat at No.7. I would say try with Pat Cummins,” added Chopra.

The former opener added that playing Cummins at No.7 will allow KKR to have the luxury of picking four specialist bowlers. He picked Prasidh Krishna and Varun Chakravarthy as the two Indian bowlers

“If you keep Pat Cummins at No.7, you will have four proper bowlers after that. Varun Chakravarthy and Prasidh Krishna can be there in that. That makes it two,” said Chopra.

The renowned commentator further added that KKR can pick either Lockie Ferguson or the spin-bowling all-rounders like Sunil Narine or Shakib Al Hasan depending on the nature of conditions.

Aakash Chopra further added that KKR should be open to the idea of dropping Sunil Narine given that the off-spinner hasn’t been in the best of forms with the ball in recent years.

“You have picked only three overseas. So, depending on the pitch you can pick an overseas fast bowler like Lockie Ferguson. You can also pick Sunil Narine or Shakib Al Hasan. You can also play Kuldeep Yadav,” added Chopra

“They should just open up to the idea of dropping Sunil Narine, if things are not working out. He is a big player but his bowling has not been that sharp since questions were raised about his action,” signed off Aakash Chopra.

KKR will kickstart their IPL 2021 campaign against the SunRisers Hyderabad on April 11 in Chennai.

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