Mohammad Kaif Blames Brendon McCullum For KKR’s Poor Show In IPL 2022: It was a do-or-die game for the Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders when they took on Mumbai Indians at the DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai on Monday. During the game, the KKR batting line-up was exposed badly as they found themselves in deep water after Jasprit Bumrah’s sensational five-wicket haul, which restricted them from 156/5 to 156/8.
What was your favourite moment from #MIvKKR last night? ___
@patcummins30 @NitishRana_27 @rinkusingh235 @venkateshiyer #AndreRussell #AmiKKR #IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/PNsKJ9NTkf
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) May 10, 2022
However, an impressive bowling performance led by Pat Cummins helped them recover as they defeated the five-time champions for the second time in the ongoing season. This win also kept KKR’s hopes alive for the IPL 2022 playoffs.
However, Kolkata Knight Riders have found themselves at the receiving end of criticism for making too many changes in the team composition in the ongoing 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League. In the game last night, KKR made as many as five changes to their eleven.
As the two-time champions are facing a tough challenge to book a place in the playoffs, former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif believes that the franchise did well at the auction but constant change in the team composition has disturbed the environment of the team. He said:
“KKR had a lot of players, but they couldn’t play them and made too many changes in their playing XI. These changes add pressure on the players and it is difficult to play in such an environment. KKR management is to blame for this situation as they have done a lot of chopping and changing,”
Further, Kaif said that captain Shreyas Iyer and coach Brendon McCullum might not be on the same page. It has to be noted that the KKR captain was spotted complaining about something to McCullum after his dismissal against Rajasthan Royals in their previous game. Speaking about the same, Kaif said:
“The atmosphere will be very bad. We all saw that during their game against RR. Shreyas Iyer was visibly frustrated by coach Brendon McCullum’s decisions regarding the batting order. That’s when they started losing more matches. It shows that the captain and the coach aren’t on the same page. Iyer, who is usually very calm, questioned McCullum during the game,”
Meanwhile, KKR is currently sitting at the 7th position in the points table with 10 points, having won 5 out of the 7 games they have played so far.
