IPL 2020: Dinesh Karthik hands over KKR captaincy to Eoin Morgan with immediate effect

Eoin Morgan has been named the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper with immediate effect in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). Dinesh Karthik stepped down from the position mid-season after the team won four matches out of seven in the first half of the this edition. Morgan will walk out as the captain of the team for KKR’s game against Mumbai Indians (MI) on Friday.

There have been calls for Morgan to name the captain from the start of the season itself and it grew more when a few of Dinesh Karthik’s decision went wrong. However, the latter had led the team well in the last few games. His decisions to keep Sunil Narine at the back end of the innings CSK and KXIP came in for a lot of praise as KKR managed to win the game from nowhere.

The news was confirmed by the KKR franchise on its official website. Their report stated that Dinesh Karthik himself decided to hand over the reins to Eoin Morgan to concentrate on his batting and keeping.

KKR CEO Venky Mysore lauds Dinesh Karthik

Meanwhile, KKR CEO Venky Mysore has lauded Karthik for putting the team ahead of himself. He reckons that the team is fortunate to have leaders like Karthik and Eoin Morgan and hoped that the duo will work together in tandem going forward in the tournament. The franchise also thanked the Tamil Nadu cricketer for his contribution to the team while leading the pack since the 2018 season.

“We are fortunate to have leaders such as DK, who has always put the team first. It takes a lot of courage for someone like him to take a decision such as this. While we were surprised by his decision, we are respectful of his wishes. We are also fortunate that Eoin Morgan, the 2019 World Cup-winning captain, who has been the vice captain, is willing to lead the side going forward.

“DK and Eoin have worked brilliantly together during this tournament and although Eoin takes over as captain, this is effectively a role swap and we expect that this transition will work in a seamless manner,” Venky Mysore said.