Dinesh Karthik has handed over KKR’s captaincy to England’s World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan, the club confirmed in a statement posted on their website on Friday afternoon.
‘Dinesh Karthik has informed the KKR management that with a view to focusing on his batting and contributing more to the team’s cause, he wished to handover the captaincy to Eoin Morgan,’ said the statement released by KKR.
Venky Mysore, CEO of KKR said “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”
KKR are currently placed fourth in the IPL standings having won four of their seven outings so far this season. Their next match is on Friday night against Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi.
Karthik was named the KKR captain after Gautam Gambhir departed from the franchise some season back. This year, he has scored 108 runs in seven innings that includes a 58 he made against Kings XI Punjab on 10 October. Morgan is the team’s second-highest run-scorer after Shubman Gill, having made 175 runs in 7 innings. The England captain was bought by the franchise in the December 2019 auction for Rs 5.25 crore.
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