For Eoin Morgan, Rahul Tripathi’s cameo was a ‘huge positive’ for Kolkata Knight Riders in the 18-run loss to Delhi Capitals in Sharjah on Saturday.
Coming in at No. 8 in his first match, Tripathi hit a 16-ball 36 to keep KKR, chasing 229, in the contest until the last over.
“When he (Tripathi) bats down the order and produces something like that, it is a huge positive,” Morgan said. “To score at a strike rate of 250-300, it’s almost Andre Russell-like. The argument would be, why wouldn’t you keep him where he is when he does such a positive job.”
Morgan downplayed ‘impact’ player Sunil Narine’s failures as an opener.
Morgan, who scored an 18-ball 44 batting at No. 6, defended the decision to send him behind Russell. “When he (Russell) comes up, everybody shifts down. We went from a position of being behind the eight ball, because Delhi bowled well, to a position of strength and looking like winning it,” he said.
Morgan said KKR should stick to the basics. “Going back and looking at the execution of our yorkers, wide yorkers, length balls, bouncers and being honest about how we did today and how we need to move forward and learn is important,” he concluded.
