IPL 2021: 3 Players who can lead Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Eoin Morgan's absence

The two-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be at a major disadvantage during the UAE leg of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). IPL 2021 was suspended for an indefinite time period after hosting just 29 matches due to a breach in the biosecure bubble.

However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has now decided to conduct the remaining matches of the league in September and October in the UAE. Ahead of the UAE leg, the Knight Riders have been dealt with a massive blow.

KKR have learned that there is uncertainty looming over the participation of the England players. A few days back, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) director Ashley Giles announced that no English player will be allowed to participate in the T20 extravaganza. 

The absence of England players means that KKR will be without the services of their skipper Eoin Morgan. Morgan took over the reins as the Knight Riders’ captain in the middle of IPL 2020. The KKR team management will again have to hunt for a perfect leader for the squad.

In this article, let’s take a look at three KKR players who can be potential leaders for the 2012 and 2014 champions:

1. Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik will be the first name in the mind of the management as the 35-year-old captained the Kolkata Knight Riders for two and a half seasons. Karthik joined KKR in the 2018 edition and was immediately handed the responsibility of leading the side. 

Under his leadership, KKR reached the semi-finals during IPL 2018. The franchise missed the playoffs in 2019 due to a lower net run rate than Sunrisers Hyderabad. Meanwhile, Karthik decided to step down in the middle of IPL 2020 to make way for England skipper Eoin Morgan. However, the wicketkeeper-batsman continues to be an integral part of the Kolkata setup as he comes with a lot of experience and exposure.

Also, he has decent IPL records under his name in his career thus far. The former skipper has featured in a stunning 203 IPL matches scoring 3946 runs at an average of 26.1 and strike rate of 129.9.