Is Dinesh Karthik set to lose KKR captaincy after poor show? Jacques Kallis clarifies

Speculation was rife over the sacking of Dinesh Karthik, the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) after the team faced five straight defeats in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). The two-time champions started off well with four wins out of five games but then failed to cease a losing streak which now put them in the danger of missing the playoffs. The last time the KKR had failed to make the last four was in 2015 and it was under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir.

Karthik’s captaincy has come under the scanner, especially over the decision to send in-form Andre Russell too much down the batting order which has denied him the opportunity to play more deliveries. As a batsman, too, Karthik has been a failure this season, scoring just 117 runs in 10 matches at a poor average of 16.71.

KKR coach Jacques Kallis, however, has rubbished the rumours surrounding a possible ouster of Karthik from captaincy. “No. We haven’t discussed it, nor it been brought up. So now there’s been no talk about that,” the former South Africa all-rounder and also a member of the KKR team, was quoted by Timesnownews.com as saying in Kolkata. The KKR will take on Rajasthan Royals in their next game at the Eden Gardens on Thursday and both teams need to win the key clash to remain in the fray.

“We all want to perform a little bit better. Yeah, I think everyone’s in that space where we just want to get up and play better cricket and get back on winning ways. Losing certainly isn’t fun,” Kallis said when asked whether the franchise co-owner Shah Rukh Khan was displeased with the team’s performance.

Changing captains in IPL not new

Instances of captains losing their crowns in the IPL in the wake of poor performances are not new. Last year, Gautam Gambhir stepped down from the captaincy of the Delhi franchise (then Daredevils) after a poor run of form and was even dropped from the eleven. Moreover, MS Dhoni was removed from the captaincy of the now defunct Rising Pune Supergiant the year before. This year, Ajinkya Rahane lost the RR captaincy to Steve Smith.

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