Apart from 23 balls 30 that come in n. 3 against Mumbai Indians, Karthik has failed to produce any significant scores despite being ahead of Morgan so far in the tournament.
The wicket-keeper’s batsman scored 6 after hitting the bat at number 5 against Capitals of Delhi on Saturday even as Morgan (44 of 18) and Rahul Tripathi (36 of 16) raised hopes of a successful chase after hitting 6th and 8th respectively.
TABLE OF POINTS IPL 2020
“Rahul Tripathi goes up in the order, Dinesh Karthik plays at No. 6, not before Morgan and not before Russell either. Sunil Narine is probably hitting at 8 or 9. If Morgan is hitting No. 4 and Russell at No. 5 and Dinesh Karthik follows, “Gambhir told ESPNcricinfo.
The former India starter also felt Karthik miscalculated by giving up the 19th to spinner Varun Chakravarthy (1/49) as he allowed 20 runs.
“Your best bowlers need to pass the 18th, 19th and 20th, unfortunately it didn’t happen. Pat cummins, Sunil Narine – if a spinner has to go bowling. Even Mavi did a fabulous job in the previous games and so did Andre Russell. You have to give your best bowlers, ”he said.
“Yes, Varun Chakravarty bowled well in the first overs, but you can’t expect a young spinner to play the 19th and that in Sharjah too, it was probably a miscalculation.”
Gambhir said KKR gave away 20-25 extra runs at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, which has shorter limits.
“It never ends until it ends, that’s what we saw in Sharjah. It’s too many races, probably 20-25 more races than KKR expected.
“It was (Anrich) Nortje’s brilliance, just standing behind himself that really turned the tide of the game,” he said, referring to Nortje’s 19th in which he conceded just five runs and took a wicket.
Gambhir also praised Iyer for his 88 of 38 balls, which was intertwined with seven fours and six highs.
“We keep talking about how he plays for spin, but today he showed that he can also dominate fast pitchers,” he said.
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