IPL 13: There Will Be Smooth Transition Of Leadership From Dinesh Karthik To Me, Says Morgan

Abu Dhabi: After stumbling to an eight-wicket loss against Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Eoin Morgan said that there will be a smooth transition of leadership from Dinesh Karthik to him.

Prior to the match against Mumbai Indians, KKR announced that Dinesh Karthik decided to hand over the captaincy reins to Morgan in order to focus on his batting.

Mumbai Indians chased down the total of 149 with eight wickets in hand and 19 balls to spare against KKR on Friday at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Quinton de Kock top-scored for the Rohit Sharma-led side as he played an unbeaten knock of 78 runs.

“I think within a team of leaders, given that Dinesh and me were titled leaders in terms of being the captain and vice-captain, I think there will be a smooth transition from here. It took a lot of courage for DK and a lot of selflessness from him to come ahead and recognise within himself that he needed to focus on his batting for the remainder of the tournament,” said Morgan during the post-match press conference.

“I became captain, it is a very good opportunity for me to lead the team, but as I said within our group, we have a number of leaders who we will need throughout this tournament,” he added.

Batting first, KKR posted a total of 148/5 in the allotted twenty overs as Pat Cummins and Eoin Morgan played knocks of 53 and 39 respectively.

At one stage, KKR found itself at 61/5, but from there on, Cummins and Morgan retrieved the innings for the side by stitching together an unbeaten stand of 87 runs. For Mumbai Indians, Rahul Chahar returned with the best bowling figures (2-18).

“With the bat, we made a few mistakes, I thought Mumbai Indians bowled really well and they proved why they have been one of the form teams in this year’s tournament. From here on end, we have an area of improvement where we need to make strides on. We are at the halfway mark in this tournament and there is no better time to turn things around,” said Morgan.

“We look at Pat Cummins as an all-rounder, I think the thing he has really been focusing this year has been his golf, that has made a huge difference in his batting and striking, he has been hitting the golf ball really well,” he added.

KKR will next lock horns with SunRisers Hyderabad on October 18 while Mumbai Indians will face Kings XI Punjab on the same day. The Eoin Morgan-led side is currently at the fourth place in the points table with eight points from eight games. (ANI)