“If you are not going to give him the new ball, then why is he playing?”, Yusuf Pathan blames Nitish Rana for his particular team selection for the Kolkata Knight Riders

IPL 2023: Losses to Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians have put Kolkata Knight Riders in a rut in IPL 2023. Fans and commentators have questioned Nitish Rana’s squad selection after they lost by five wickets to MI in their most recent trip (Match 22). 

With the help of Ishan Kishan’s 58 runs off 25 balls, MI was able to accomplish their goal of 186 runs in 17.4 overs. Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav got back into form with an important 43-run knock off just 25 balls. Suyash Sharma, an impact player for KKR’s bowling team, collected two scalps.

Lockie Ferguson took a wicket for the Kolkata pacers, but they performed poorly as a unit. His 1.4 overs had an economy rate of 11.40. The Kiwi gave up 19 runs as well. Shardul Thakur of India took one wicket while allowing 25 runs in his two overs. His economy rate was 12.50. However, Umesh Yadav gave up 19 runs in two overs while taking no wickets at an economy rate of 9.50.

At first, Venkatesh Iyer batted well on his own to lead KKR to 185/6 off of 20 overs. He scored 104 runs off of 51 balls. The all-rounder played really well, destroying the MI bowling attack. Hrithik Shokeen, meanwhile, took two wickets for Mumbai.

IPL 2023: Yusuf Pathan criticizes Nitish Rana for his team selection

Yusuf Pathan, a former player for KKR, criticized Rana’s approach to squad selection in an interview after the game. If Ferguson wasn’t going to be handed the new ball, the former India great said, he shouldn’t have been picked.

“I was surprised as to why did he select Ferguson in the playing XI. If you are not going to give him the new ball, then why is he playing? He is now bowling that well, so maybe change him for someone else because his pace bowling attack is coming across as very weak”, he said.

In addition, Yusuf thought that Umesh hasn’t been receiving enough help from the other of KKR’s pacers.

Following the loss, KKR dropped to fifth place in the IPL 2023 standings, with four points after five matches (2 wins, 3 losses). On Thursday, KKR will play at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi for Match 28 against the Delhi Capitals.

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