IPL 2021: KKR didn't lose PBKS game in last over, they lost it well before

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) might rue the controversial catch of KL Rahul which was given not-out at the crucial juncture of the game. They might have thought they had a chance of stealing a win when Rahul got out in the final over. But they had lost it well before, in their selection strategy. Not many expect the captain of Eoin Morgan‘s stature to make such calls but it was baffling to see Shakib Al Hasan not getting picked after Lockie Ferguson got injured. Instead KKR preferred to go with Tim Seifert.

The Kiwi is a top-order wicketkeeper-batter but he was strangely slotted at seven and most importantly, he can’t bowl. They had a readymade all-rounder in Shakib Al Hasan to be picked who could’ve bowled his four overs of left-arm spin and could’ve added some vital runs in the death overs with his ability to clear the boundary.

What did Tim Seifert do? He came to bat at seven with only 14 balls, scored two off four balls and got run-out at the non-striker’s end while trying to steal a leg-bye. He was then spotted in the field only a few times with Dinesh Karthik being the wicketkeeper.

Actually, I feel for Tim Seifert. The poor guy is wonderful top-order batter who can churn runs out quickly and has done it for New Zealand a several times. He gets a chance to make his IPL debut, not at his preferred position and literaly has nothing to show on the board after the match. The main question is, Why did KKR go with Seifert at the first place?

What wrong has Shakib Al Hasan done?

A player of Shakib Al Hasan’s stature will be the first name on the sheet in most of the T20 teams. But in KKR, he isn’t even the preferred overseas player anymore it seems. He was given a chance during the India leg and played three matches as well. Though the numbers were not so great, he should’ve been an automatic pick when Russell and Ferguson both weren’t available for selection in the game against PBKS.

For some unknown reasons, Eoin Morgan and Co went with only five designated bowlers putting a huge faith on Venkatesh Iyer to bowl four overs. He had bowled only two overs in the tournament before this game and clearly, it was a strange and risky call with the team being on the thin edge when it comes to playoffs qualification.

What was the outcome? Iyer conceded 30 runs off 2.3 overs picking a wicket of KL Rahul who was holed out trying to finish the game in the last over. One over to complete the quota of fifth bowler was bowled by Nitish Rana and he conceded 7 runs off it. So in total, KKR’s fifth bowler returned with the figures of 1/37 in 3.3 overs. And this is what cost them the game.

PBKS knew KKR were a genuine bowler short and they targeted Venkatesh in his first spell taking him for 23 runs. If Shakib were playing, he would’ve been more useful given the fact that PBKS had five right-handers in their top seven.

KKR had the man with an experience of playing 340 T20 matches and had picked 385 wickets. But it was their fault that they went with a player who had not played in the IPL before, who couldn’t bowl and most importantly, batted way outside his position. I won’t say Shakib would’ve won them the game, but his contributions would’ve been much better. Who knows? He could’ve picked a couple of wickets and scored 10-20 runs. But then, KKR had something else, very much baffling in their minds.

For me, it was a tactical blunder, clearly. Well, KKR you only have made your playoff qualification tough for yourself!