Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith feels Kolkata Knight Riders will need the spin combination of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakraborty to play against Rajasthan Royals at the Brabourne Stadium on Monday.
A large part of Kolkata’s success has been provided by the off-spin and mystery spin combination of Narine and Chakraborty, who suppress the opposition batsmen and prevent the run-flow.
But in IPL 2022, the duo is yet to set the stage on fire. While Narine has taken four wickets at an average of 30 and an economy rate of just five, Chakraborty has not been in his best control, picking up four wickets at a high average of 47.75 and an economy rate of 8.30.
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With the second half of IPL 2022 looming, Kolkata expect Naren and Chakraborty to return to their top form will be crucial for the two-time champions.
“Now that we are going into the second half, the wickets are going to be a bit bad. So, the spin combination is going to be important in the second half. So they need good bowling from Chakraborty. They need a combination of Naren and Chakraborty to move forward,” Smith was quoted as saying by cricket.com.
“Spin will start to play a bigger and bigger role as the tournament progresses. As the wickets get worse, more and more games, we will see the spin coming to the fore. That combination is going to be the key to their success,” said Smith, who won IPL 2008 with Rajasthan Royals.
Smith pointed out that both Kolkata and Rajasthan have performed poorly in the death overs in the tournament, making the final five-over phase with the ball a concern for the teams led by Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson respectively. Kolkata has the third worst economy rate for teams in the death overs in IPL 2022 with an economy rate of 12.97, while Rajasthan is the fourth worst with an economy rate of 12.78.
“It is important to close the game. Clear mind, not getting bogged down, having a clear plan with your captain so you can bowl in your fields, you know what you’re going to do.”
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In light of the death bowling concerns, Smith feels the role of Narine and Chakraborty in the middle overs becomes even more important for Kolkata. That’s why we talk about spin options. Can Naren, can Chakraborty pick up a wicket or two in the middle and take the pressure off the death overs? He has enough experience with Russell, Cummins, Narine, Umesh Yadav. Coming into these final overs, there should be more control from KKR’s side.”
Smith signed on saying that he is more concerned with bowling the death overs for Rajasthan as there is a dearth of experienced bowlers at that stage. “What worries me is that the Royals don’t really have that experience. It could be a game change between the two teams.”
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