Abu Dhabi: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) head coach Brendon McCullum on Tuesday (September 22) said that the decision concerning workload management of Jamaican all-rounder Andre Russell will be decided by KKR captain Dinesh Karthik.
KKR will play their opener against Mumbai Indians in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Wednesday (September 23) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Former cricketer-turned-coach McCullum also said that Russell’s capacity to bowl during the death overs also gives flexibility to the Karthik’s squad.
“Dinesh Karthik will make this decision (workload management) in the middle, we know about Russell’s batting ability, we all know what he can do with the bat, his ability to bowl at crunch situations gives us further options, the captain and vice-captain will make this decision of how to use him during the match,” said McCullum while replying to an ANI query during a virtual press conference.
💥 Oh gosh! That’s SMASHED – wait for the last shot..#MuscleRussell warming up to his devastating best!
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) September 21, 2020
@Russell12A #KKRHaiTaiyaar #Dream11IPL pic.twitter.com/0NsOHJ2Pja
KKR roped in a USA pacer Ali Khan as a replacement for injured pacer Harry Gurney. Thus, Khan became the first player from the USA to feature in the IPL history. Talking about Khan, “First and foremost, it’s great to have Ali Khan in the KKR setup, he is the first United States player to feature in the IPL, he has been successful at Trinbago Knight Riders. He deserves an opportunity to present himself in the IPL, I guess his opportunity will come deeper in this year’s IPL,” McCullum added.
McCullum also said that he believes pacer Pat Cummins will be able to bowl like Test match length in the pitches of UAE. Meanwhile, Cummins became the most expensive foreign player in the cash-rich league as he was hand-picked by KKR for Rs 15.5 crore.
“First and foremost, the conditions are similar to Eden Gardens, pitches in the UAE have not been utilised for the past few months, Cummins is the number one bowler in Test cricket so I wish he bowls at the same length he does in Test matches, he is a strong leader and he has been a part of KKR before,” McCullum concluded.
Squad: Dinesh Karthik (Captain), Andre Russell, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Rinku Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Siddhesh Lad, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Eoin Morgan, Varun Chakravarti, Tom Banton, Rahul Tripathi, Chris Green, Nikhil Naik, Pravin Tambe, M Siddharth, Ali Khan.
