West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell has completed 8,000 runs in men’s T20 cricket. The explosive batter attained the feat in the 2nd T20I against Australia at the Adelaide Oval. He entered the match, requiring eight runs for the mark. Andre Russell has become the first-ever player with the double of 8,000 runs and 400 wickets in overall T20s.
On 19th of December 2023, the cricketing world witnessed the moment of history being made during the grand mini IPL 2024 auction held at the Coca Cola Arena in Dubai. Like records being shattered by batters on the cricket field by scoring runs or by bowlers taking wickets, here at the arena 10 franchises locked horns with their respective available purses and strategies only to create new records in the cricketing league history. IPL 2024 promises to be a thriller if we go through to the auction.
KKR will have to play Mitchell Starc, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine- Irfan Pathan
Former Indian All rounder Irfan Pathan reckons Mitchell Starc, Andre Russell, and Sunil Narine will take three of the four overseas spots in the Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) preferred playing XI in IPL 2024.
The Kolkata-based franchise finished seventh in IPL 2023. They bought Starc (₹24.75 crores), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (₹2 crores), Sherfane Rutherford (₹1.5 crores), and Gus Atkinson (₹1 crores) at the auction to complement their four retained overseas players — Russell, Narine, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and Jason Roy.
During a discussion on Star Sports, Pathan was asked about the likely four overseas players in the Kolkata Knight Riders’ first-choice XI. He responded:
“They will have to play Mitchell Starc, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine. These three are confirmed. If those (turning) pitches are there, Narine has to play. Gautam (Gambhir) actually likes it that way. He likes playing on the slow pitches and that is where he became champion a couple of times.”
The former India all-rounder added that Gurbaz will have to play ahead of Roy if a wicketkeeper-batter is needed.
“Then they will have to leave out either Jason Roy or Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Only one of them can play. If they want to go with a wicketkeeper, then Jason Roy has to sit out. Then Gurbaz will play,” Pathan stated. Gurbaz played 11 games for KKR in IPL 2023, aggregating 227 runs at an average of 20.64 and a strike rate of 133.52.
Irfan Pathan on Manish Pandey’s inclusion in KKR squad for 2024 IPL season.
Irfan Pathan reckons the Kolkata Knight Riders can alternatively open with either Manish Pandey or Venkatesh Iyer alongside Jason Roy. He elaborated:
“If not, what they can do is, start with Jason Roy and have Manish Pandey open the innings. Manish Pandey can actually play that role. With his experience, he can play anywhere, or else Venkatesh Iyer can bat up the order.”
The cricketer-turned-commentator opined that Srikar Bharat can play the wicketkeeper-batter’s role in such a scenario.
“Maybe Srikar Bharat can actually bat at No. 3 or something. In that way, wicketkeeping will be sorted, or he can just play as a pure impact sub as a wicketkeeper. I really think Jason Roy is a better bet, with the kind of form he showed last year, than Rahmanullah Gurbaz,” Pathan added.
Roy had a better run than Gurbaz for KKR in IPL 2023. The England opener smashed 285 runs at an average of 35.63 and a strike rate of 151.59 in eight innings.
With Andre Russell , Sunil Narine and Mitchell Starc automatically selecting themselves in the playing 11 overseas players spot it would be certainly a fight for No4 overseas players spot and a headache for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2024 season to choose a right player for the right job.