Play all audios:
VENKATESH IYER EXPLAINED THE REASON BEHIND ANDRE RUSSELL BATTING LOWER DOWN THE ORDER FOR KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS THIS SEASON. HE NOTED THAT THE PITCH AND CONDITION PLAY A SIGNIFICANT PART IN
DECIDING THE BATTING ORDER. New Delhi: Andre Russell batted at number seven in Kolkata Knight Riders’ previous match against Lucknow Super Giants at Eden Gardens. Both Ramandeep Singh and
Rinku Singh were sent ahead of him, as the defending champions lost the match by four runs. KKR’s decision to demote Russell in the batting order invited immense criticism and addressing
that, vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer mentioned that it was a well-thought-of decision and the management assessed everything before taking a call. Venkatesh also reminded that the likes of
Rinku and Ramandeep can finish games as well and since the team has almost nine batters in the playing XI, they can shake things up at times. He highlighted the firepower that’s there in
KKR’s arsenal and mentioned that the conditions and the surface play a huge role in them deciding the batting slots. “I think from the analytics point of view it is a huge thing. The entry
point of batters is everything in T20s. Once you assess if a certain pitch is suitable for an individual or not, let him come early or give a few overs. We should not forget that we have
Rinku Singh also, we have Ramandeep as well. Yes, Russell has been doing this for a long time, but we have ample competition for him. When all these players come in a combination, it will be
very difficult to bowl at them,” said Venkatesh in the press conference. “There are grounds where we have to consider the left-right combination also. So there are a lot of things we have
to consider, and alter certain batter's entry point. But trust me, everything is well thought of. We have a lot of experience with DJ Bravo and every decision that they make is well
thought of,” he mentioned. Kolkata will take on Chennai Super Kings in their next game on April 11 at MA Chidambaram Stadium. Meanwhile, the match will mark the return of MS Dhoni as captain
after Ruturaj Gaikwad is ruled out of the season.