IPL 2020: Ajit Agarkar Calls For KKR To Be More Consistent

Former India pacer, Ajit Agarkar believes that Kolkata Knight Riders could have done better in the IPL 2020. He reckons KKR should have qualified for playoffs in the presence of multiple match-winners.

KKR, for the second season in a row, was ousted on the net run rate from the playoff race. They finished on the fifth spot with 14 points- the same as Hyderabad and Bangalore. KKR changed their captain mid-season from Dinesh Karthik to Eoin Morgan despite having a decent start to the tournament.

There was something not right in the KKR camp: Ajit Agarkar

Ajit Agarkar feels that KKR has several match-winners, should play better cricket, and be more consistent next season. He opined that the team was in a good position, but then they changed the skipper mid-season, which implies that not all was right in the KKR dressing room.

Speaking on Star Sports’ chatshow Cricket Connected, Ajit Agarkar said, “The one team I hope plays better or play a bit more consistently is KKR. I think KKR certainly has a lot of match-winners in them or T20 specialists if you like. They should be doing a lot better. There were in a better position, changed the captain for some reason midway through and you could see that there was something not right in the camp.”

The cricketer-turned-commentator said that they are a team ladened with T20 superstars and it was surprising to see them be inconsistent and struggle for a playoff berth. Agarkar hopes for things to be corrected, in particular the captaincy duty. The former India cricketer opined that they should choose a captain and stick with him for the entire season.

He also commented on MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings, who for the first time failed to qualify for the playoffs. With the reports of a meg-auction for next year’s IPL, Agarkar said that CSK surely needs restructuring. The 42-year-old reckons CSK should release some players in order to rope in young legs.

“They have got far too good a team to be as inconsistent, T20 format is very difficult to be consistent, but they have got far too good a team to be that.

“So, I hope they get those things right. And especially, get the leadership, whoever it is, and stick to it during the course of the season. I think there are a couple of teams, CSK certainly needs a little bit of restructuring,” Ajit Agarkar added.

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