IPL 2024 Auction: KKR's Manish Pandey, KS Bharat Batting Out Of Position Not Ideal - Aakash Chopra

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra analyzed the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) squad for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. He pointed out that if they will play Manish Pandey and KS Bharat they have to make them bat out of their batting position which won’t be ideal.

Kolkata Knight Riders will be one of the key teams to watch out for in the IPL 2024. The Shreyas Iyer-led side has some key players in the ranks and it won’t be a surprise if they end up winning their third title in the league with Gautam Gambhir, who will be the mentor.

Kolkata Knight Riders had a decent outing in the auction as they strengthened their bowling lineup and also brought some Indian batters into the team. With them having quite a few solid Indian batters they will be having a problem of plenty while deciding their playing 11.

KKR acquired the services of KS Bharat and Manish Pandey for INR 50 lakh each. But with Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, and Nitish Rana already in the team, it will be tough for them to play the recruits. Therefore it will be a good headache to have management going into the IPL 2024.

Aakash Chopra shared his verdict on the same and cited that KS Bharat is unlikely to get the opportunity and even if they play him he will have to bat at 5,6 or 7, which won’t be suitable for him

Aakash Chopra added that the same will be the case with Manish Pandey as they have a packed top and middle order with the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and others. Speaking a video posted on his YouTube channel, he stated:

“KS Bharat is your keeping backup, although I don’t think they will be able to play him. They will have to get Rahmanullah Gurbaz to open because if he doesn’t play and you get Jason Roy to open, you will have to play a keeper in the middle and KS Bharat batting at Nos. 5, 6 or 7 won’t be ideal.

Whenever KS Bharat and Manish Pandey play, they will have to bat in the lower-middle order, and that’s not ideal for either of them.

“They will have either Rahmanullah Gurbaz or Jason Roy at the top and then Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh, and then a finisher in Andre Russell or Sherfane Rutherford.”

IPL 2024: Their Indian core is proper – Aakash Chopra on KKR’s bowling lineup

Aakash Chopra further dug into KKR’s bowling lineup. He was left amazed by their spin bowling department and also highlighted the Indian fast bowlers they have. He added:

“In bowling, they had three amazing spinners and had the fourth option available – Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Suyash Sharma and Anukul Roy. They have added Mujeeb Ur Rahman to that.

“In Indian bowling, their big buy was Chetan Sakariya, which is okay. The team is good. I liked them before the auction as well, and it is good now as well because they have six or seven good Indian players. Their Indian core is proper.”

KKR bolstered their squad by adding the likes of Mitchell Starc, Manish Pandey, Sherfane Rutherford keeper-batter KS Bharat, and Chetan Sakariya. Since the last few years, they have been having an average campaign and would be hoping to turn the tables around.