IPL 10: Simon Katich reveals why KKR experimented with opening pair

The Kolkata Knight Riders have been having a merry run in the ongoing season of the IPL. No wonder why the team management is a happy camp at the moment. The KKR Assistant Coach Simon Katich recently spoke at the different trends going on in the KKR roster this season. The Knight Riders have emerged as the team to beat in the tournament and sit comfortably at the top of the points table.

However, one thing that has caught the attention of the fans has been the changing opening combinations of the KKR lineup. They have had 3 opening pairs this season in the five matches that they have played thus far – Chris Lynn-Gautam Gambhir, Gambhir-Sunil Narine, and Gambhir-Colin de Grandhomme. They started off on a high with Lynn and Gambhir lighting up the tournament with an unbeaten 184 run stand.

The injury to Lynn saw Narine get a promotion. And most recently, it was the Kiwi all-rounder who got his chance at the top. All these experimentations only confused the fans. This was largely due to the fact that last year Robin Uthappa had been in a scintillating form as the opener. Simon Katich answered all doubts as he reasoned out why the opening duo was tinkered with.

Katich revealed that it was the absence of Andre Russell that forced the team to have a hard hitter at the top order. He believes that a hard hitter at the top could take a lot of pressure off from the lower order batsmen.

“We learned a little bit looking at our results and analyzing all the stats. Robin (Uthappa) and Gautam (Gambhir) have done a fantastic job over a number of years. But the big difference this year is that we didn’t have Andre Russell batting at No. 5 or 6. Losing him meant that we had to find out how we could pick up that sort of a strike rate,” quoted Simon Katich.

“No disrespect to the other guys but it is very hard to match Andre’s power at the back end of the innings. And we had to get that power somewhere else. So we chose (Chris) Lynn to do it and do it at the top of the order,” he reasoned further.

Yusuf Pathan has evolved as a great player for the Knight Riders. Over the years, he has started looking much more calm and composed at the crease. Talking about the change that Yusuf has had, Simon Katich remarked that it is the intent that has changed a lot. When he has been indecisive, he has struggled to get going.

“One thing that stood out for me was that when he (Yusuf) goes out there and plays with that intent from the word go, he looks a different player. The bowlers sense that and start feeling the pressure,” he quoted.

“He came out that night against Delhi (Daredevils) with that intent and was magnificent. But against Mumbai (Indians) he was little indecisive and, as a result, bowlers got wind of that and tied him down. He’s experienced and knows what he has to do. It’s a matter of trusting his game. Last year, he was one of our most consistent batsmen, repeatedly performing under pressure,” Katich conceded further.

Commenting on the aspect of the game that the team needs to address at the moment, the former Australian cricketer quoted it to be the fielding.

“The one area we need to improve is our fielding: it’s been pretty average. The guys know that and we’ve spoken about it as a group,” Katich pointed out.