Gautam Gambhir Hits Out At Kolkata Knight Riders For Lack Of Squad Depth

Kolkata Knight Riders surprised the cricketing fraternity after they purchased the services of Pat Cummins at the IPL 2020 auction held in Kolkata. The Australian pacer became the most expensive overseas signing in the history of Indian Premier League as he was purchased for a whopping price tag of INR 15.5 crores.

It should be noted that Pat Cummins’ bidding price edged past England all-rounder Ben Stokes’ auction bid of Rs 14.5 crore made at the IPL 2017 auction. Cummins also became the second-most-expensive player in IPL, next only to former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, who had been roped in by the Delhi franchise (then Delhi Daredevils, now Delhi Capitals) for Rs 16 crore in the IPL 2015 auction.

At first, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals were locked in an intense bidding war for Pat Cummins, who had set a base price of Rs 2 crore ahead of the auction. The bid quickly went past Rs 5 crore, with RCB having the upper hand at Rs 5.25 crore. But in a sensational twist, KKR came to the party and stole Pat Cummins for a jaw-dropping amount. Besides Pat Cummins, they also signed England’s World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan for Rs 5.25 crore.

Gautam Gambhir attacks KKR over players’ selection

Meanwhile, former Indian opener and former KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir launched a scathing attack on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) over the selection of players at the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) auction. Gambhir who led KKR to two IPL trophies stressed on the fact that KKR doesn’t have back up options in case any top-order batsman picks up an injury.

“But if you look at the squad as a whole, there is no backup for Andre Russell, Eoin Morgan, Sunil Narine who is a one of a kind bowler. If Eoin Morgan suffers an injury, the team has no middle order overseas batsman. The management could have gone for a Mitchell Marsh or Marcus Stoinis who would have given more depth to the squad, so you have to hope all these players are there for the entire series,” said Gambhir while speaking at Star Sports’ Cricket Live show.

Gambhir added that there is no replacement for KKR in case any top-order batsman is injured. “If Pat Cummins suffers an injury, there is a replacement with Lockie Ferguson but with the top order there is no replacement for Kolkata Knight Riders,” Gautam Gambhir added.

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