IPL 2021: Brian Lara Criticises Kolkata Knight Riders’ Batting Approach Against Mumbai Indians, Says ‘They Played Carelessly’

Former West Indies cricketer Brian Lara has criticised Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) batting approach in the match against Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2021. While chasing a 153-run target in MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, Kolkata Knight Riders lost the game by 10 runs. The Eoin Morgan-led side dominated the match for most of the time but a twist in the final 5 overs turned the match in Mumbai Indians’ favour.

Being 104-3 in 13 overs, KKR needed almost run-a-ball to win the match. However, KRR’s key batsmen lost their wickets to MI spinner Rahul Chahar at the crucial stage. Chahar took 4 wickets to turn the strides in Mumbai Indians’ favour.  Now, Brian Lara has said that Kolkata Knight Riders should have played some sensible cricket in the match.

Batsmen of Kolkata Knight Riders Played Carelessly: Brian Lara

While speaking to Star Sports, Lara said that Kolkata Knight Riders needed to play sensible cricketer after getting a good start in the match.

“You can’t be like ‘okay, we got a good start, let’s just steamroll this opposition’. You have got to play sensible cricket. You have got to see which bowlers are potent on this track and the spinners are. The leg-spinner getting left-handers out, that’s not normal. That’s supposed to be the right match-up for a batsman. But he got them all out because they played carelessly,” Brian Lara said.

Brian Lara also praised Mumbai Indians for their smart cricket. He mentioned that Mumbai Indians won the match because they used the right bowlers at the right time.

“Mumbai Indians won it because they had the right bowlers at the right time. Even Rohit’s over. He bowled an over where he got an under-edge. They played smart cricket. If even they had lost at the end, they played the best they could. Credit must be given to Mumbai for going out there and putting that plan together and taking it right down to the end,” Brian Lara added.

For chasing a target of 153, Nitish Rana (57) and Shubman Gill (33) gave a brilliant start to Kolkata Knight Riders. They made a partnership of 72 runs in 8.5 overs.

However, middle-order batsmen like Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan, Shakib Al Hasan, Dinesh Karthik, and Andre Russell lost their wickets for a single-digit score. KKR finally finished at 142-7 in 20 overs and lost the match by 10 runs.