IPL 2022: For A Franchise As Big As KKR, It's A Horrible State Of Affairs - Kevin Pietersen

Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen berated the sorry state of affairs that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) finds itself in after their 5th loss in a row to Delhi Capitals (DC) on last Thursday.

After winning 3 of their first four games in the IPL 2022 season, Shreyas Iyer and co. are piling on poor performances one after another. From a potential top-4 spot, they have now slipped to 8th in the rankings with 3 wins and 6 defeats in 9 games.

Comparing the poor form to that of 5-time champions, Mumbai Indians, who are at the bottom of the points table, Pietersen said KKR has completely lost the plot.

“I know that Mumbai Indians are having a shocker, but KKR are also in a dreadful way. They won three of their first four games and have totally lost it since then. They’ve used 19 players so far, which is far too many. For a franchise as big as them, it’s just a horrible state of affairs,” Pietersen wrote on his BetWay Insider blog.

“Along with Mumbai, they are my disappointments of the competition so far” – Kevin Pietersen

In the IPL 2021 season, KKR was faring poorly with 2 wins in 7 games. However, after the league was shifted to UAE, they turned it around and reached the final before losing to CSK. This time around, that sort of turnaround is highly unlikely.

“That is a dressing room full of the opposite energy to Gujarat [Titans]: negative, negative, negative. Last year, that run to the final was defined by out-of-the-box thinking.”

“They had their analyst, Nathan Leamon, front and centre, sending signals out to the middle, and they seemed really innovative. Now it seems like the whole thing has run out of momentum. Along with Mumbai, they are my disappointments of the competition so far,” Pietersen added.

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