KOLKATA: Kolkata Knight Riders are known to invest in young talent and they have done so this time too. Their head coach Brendon McCullum foresees a bright future for most of these lesser-known players, provided they are able to grab their chances.
"KKR have unearthed Varun Chakravarthy. Venkatesh Iyer also shot into prominence last season here when given the opportunity. I feel all of these players to some degree have the potential to be a future star but everything depends on the opportunity they get," McCullum stated on Friday, a day before the side opens its campaign against Chennai Super Kings.
The New Zealand player specially mentioned some of them. "Abhijit (Tomar) is a good bat, Rasikh (Dhar) has the ability to swing the ball both ways and Ramesh (Kumar) can do something special, a mystery spinner in a way," he pointed out.
However, the former Knight felt all will depend on who among them can stand and deliver when it matters. "We have to give them the opportunity which is difficult given the fact that we have a 25-member squad. But what will matter is who will be ready for that when the opportunity knocks. Given the talent they have, I am sure all of them can build up a successful international career," he added.
The former KKR skipper is looking forward to working with new skipper Shreyas Iyer too. "I have admired Shreyas for a long time watching him from a distance. I think he has the potential to be a future superstar of the game. He has a powerful presence and is willing to learn. We also share a common value about how the game should be played. I think he should be the franchise’s player for the best part of the decade," he stated.
