Eoin Morgan takes over from Dinesh Karthik as KKR captain

Karthik wants to focus on his batting and overall contribution to the team, KKR said

morgan-kkr-ipl-t20 Kolkata Knight Riders’ English player Eoin Morgan | iplt20.com

England’s Eoin Morgan will take over as Kolkata Knight Riders captain, the franchise announced on Friday. KKR management revealed that Dinesh Karthik, in order to focus on his batting and overall contribution to the team, decided to hand over the captaincy to the English World Cup winning skipper.

“Dinesh Karthik has informed the KKR management that with a view to focusing on his batting and contributing more to the team’s cause, he wished to handover the captaincy to Eoin Morgan,” KKR said in a statement.

The Knight Riders are currently placed fourth in the points table and have won four of their seven games under Karthik so far.

Venky Mysore, CEO of KKR, said that the franchise was surprised by Karthik’s decision, but respects in nonetheless.

“We are fortunate to have leaders such as DK, who has always put the team first. It takes a lot of courage for someone like him to take a decision such as this. While we were surprised by his decision, we are respectful of his wishes,” he said.

Mysore expressed happiness that Morgan will lead KKR in the future. He further thanked Karthik for his contribution as captain to the team in the last two and a half years.

“We are also fortunate that Eoin Morgan, the 2019 World Cup-winning captain, who has been the vice-captain, is willing to lead the side going forward. DK and Eoin have worked brilliantly together during this tournament and although Eoin takes over as captain, this is effectively a role swap and we expect that this transition will work in a seamless manner,” he said.

Karthik took over from Gautam Gambhir as captain of the Knight Riders in early 2018. Under his leadership, KKR reached the playoffs stage in that year, but was eliminated in the league stage in the 2019 IPL.

KKR will face Mumbai Indians in their IPL match in Abu Dhabi later today.

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