Dinesh Karthik Will Make The Decision On Managing Andre Russell’s Workload On The Field: Brendon McCullum

Brendon McCullum, Kolkata Knight Riders head coach, has said that the decision regarding managing swashbuckling all-rounder Andre Russell will be made by skipper Dinesh Karthik on the field.

KKR will kickstart their Dream11 IPL 2020 campaign on September 23 when they lock horns with defending champions, Mumbai Indians. McCullum added that Andre Russell’s ability to bowl at the death gives KKR a depth in the bowling department. He, however, added that how they utilize Russell- the bowler- will purely depend on the captain and vice-captain.

“Dinesh Karthik will make this decision (workload management) in the middle, we know about Russell’s batting ability, we all know what he can do with the bat, his ability to bowl at crunch situations gives us further options, the captain and vice-captain will make this decision of how o use him during the match,” Brendon McCullum said in response to a query asked by ANI during the virtual press-conference.

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‘It’s great to have Ali Khan in the KKR setup’- Brendon McCullum

Brendon McCullum also went on to congratulate KKR’s latest overseas recruit in Ali Khan, who has become the first cricketer from the United States of America to feature in the IPL. McCullum said that Khan’s opportunity to showcase his skills will come at the deeper stage of this year’s IPL.

“First and foremost, it’s great to have Ali Khan in the KKR setup, he is the first United States player to feature in the IPL, he has been successful at Trinbago Knight Riders. He deserves an opportunity to present himself in the IPL, I guess his opportunity will come deeper in this year’s IPL.” he said.

Brendon McCullum reckoned that the pitches in the UAE are not that dissimilar to the one at the Eden Gardens and he is hoping for his ace fast bowler Pat Cummins to exploit the conditions by bowling Test match lengths early-on in the innings.

“First and foremost, the conditions are similar to Eden Gardens, pitches in the UAE have not been utilised for the past few months, Cummins is the number one bowler in Test cricket so I wish he bowls at the same length he does in Test matches, he is a strong leader and he has been a part of KKR before,” Brendon McCullum signed off.

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