KKR vs SRH: Not Pat Cummins or Sanju Samson! Anil Kumble names captain who has been exceptional in IPL 2024

Former Indian skipper Anil Kumble hailed KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders) for being the all-round team in the tournament. KKR takes on SRH in the IPL 2024 final in Chennai on May 26, 2024.

KKR were the champions when the IPL final was played in Chennai against Chennai Super Kings back in 2012. Two years later KKR won their second IPL final in 2014. 10 years down the line, KKR looks prepared to win their third IPL title with the venue Chennai once again.

KKR topped the points table for the first time in their history as they qualified for the playoffs with 21 points. They then beat SRH in Qualifier 1 to make it to the final directly. The players have a few days' break to refresh themselves and prepare for the big final.

Also Read: KKR Playing 11 vs SRH - IPL Final 2024

Kumble spoke to Jio Cinema ahead of the final and praised KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer for staying calm and using his resources well throughout the tournament.

"KKR has been the all-round team, with the ball or with the bat. You name it, you have the players with Rinku Singh yet to chip in. When you have a side with explosive batters, a bowler like Starc who is coming into his form, we saw his impact in the last game and Shreyas Iyer. Even he has done exceptionally well as a captain, he has been calm and used his resources well. He got the best out of Russell and they have the firepower with both the bat and ball," Kumble said.

KKR And SRH Redefined Batting In The Powerplay: Anil Kumble

He further praised both the team for redefining the approach to play in the powerplay. The openers from both sides have been particularly aggressive in the first six overs trying to set up the game for the team. They have been fairly successful in the process as well.

"Both these teams have redefined how to go about in the powerplay, and we saw that. This is a surface that requires you to utilize the powerplay and we saw how SRH did that. Two teams that have done well throughout the tournament dictated the terms right from ball one consistently and no wonder they are playing the finals in Chennai on Sunday," he added.

Talking about the SRH openers, they have also been very aggressive and scored the highest total in the powerplay which has been 125 for no loss. The season's highest score belongs to SRH as they piled up over 280 against RCB. They also scored 277 against Mumbai Indians.

However, the KKR bowlers quickly dismissed the SRH openers in Qualifier 1. Head was castled by Mitchell Starc and Abhishek Sharma was dismissed for just 3 by Vaibhav Arora. The KKR opening bowlers will look to dismiss the SRH openers once again early.

KKR will not have Phil Salt available for the final. However, Rahmanullah Gurbaz played with a good approach in Qualifier 1 and was successful in giving his team a good start. His role will remain the same with Sunil Narine.

Also Read: SRH Playing 11 vs KKR- IPL Final 2024