Dubai: Skipper of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Dinesh Karthik has handed over the captaincy to England’s Eoin Morgan. This information was provided by the franchise in a statement Friday. Eoin Morgan is England’s most successful captain in the shorter formats of the game. Under him England won the 2019 World Cup. Morgan will now lead KKR in the ongoing IPL-13 for the remaining seven matches. Currently KKR are fourth in the points table with eight points from seven games.
“We are fortunate to have leaders such as DK (Dinesh Karthik), 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,” KKR CEO Venky Mysore said in the statement.
“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,” Mysore added.
“Karthik has informed the KKR management that with a view to focus on his batting and contributing more to the team’s cause, he wished to handover the captaincy to Eoin Morgan,” the statement further stated.
Karthik was appointed captain of KKR ahead of the 2018 season in place of Gautam Gambhir who was released by the franchise. KKR made it to the play-offs in 2018 under Karthik and then in 2019 finished fifth in the tournament.