‘Next couple of seasons could be their years’ - Aakash Chopra lauds KKR’s middle order, analyses their overall squad

Even though Kolkata Knight Riders failed to qualify for the playoffs of IPL 2023, the two-time champions played some good cricket in the tournament. Skipper Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh and Venkatesh Iyer scored over 400 runs in the season while with the ball, Varun Chakravarthy once again rose to the occasion. Youngster Suyash Sharma did well too as KKR have slowly built a solid Indian core which can serve them well in the upcoming editions.

Speaking about the same, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra mentioned that the team has the recipe to succeed in the future. Shreyas Iyer, who missed the season due to an injury is expected to join them next season and that will boost KKR’s middle order further. Chopra meanwhile also pointed out that letting Shubman Gill leave was a blunder done by the KKR management ahead of IPL 2022 and also added that the overseas contingent might need a reboot.

“KKR as a team grew on you as the tournament progressed…of course, they haven’t qualified but there’s plenty to like. In Nitish, Rinku, Iyer (with Shreyas to join) they have a solid Indian batting lineup. In Varun-Suyash they have two good Indian spinners. Harshit-Vaibhav have a solid upside too. Their overseas contingent might need a reboot…but that’s an easier problem to solve. 

Letting go of Gill was a blunder (said it back then too)…but next couple of seasons could be their years,” the 45-year-old tweeted.

Aakash Chopra@cricketaakash

KKR as a team grew on you as the tournament progressed…of course, they haven’t qualified but there’s plenty to like. In Nitish, Rinku, Iyer (with Shreyas to join) they have a solid Indian batting lineup. In Varun-Suyash they have two good Indian spinners. Harshit-Vaibhav have a… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

09:36 AM · May 22, 2023

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Kohli and Shubman Gill were both my most valuable players: Chopra

In the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Titans on May 21, both Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill scored cracking centuries but RCB eventually lost by six wickets to bow out of the tournament. However, while naming his MVP of the match, Chopra picked both Kohli and Gill, who were exceptional on the night.

“This is difficult. This is one of those games where you should actually give it jointly and let us give it jointly. It doesn't affect my health, we can do that. So I would say that Kohli and Shubman Gill were both my most valuable players. One guru and the other his disciple,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.