Following Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) defeat to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has raised concerns about the team's lack of consistency and frequent changes in their game plan.
KKR suffered a crushing 49-run defeat against CSK at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. Chasing A mammoth 236-run target, Knight Riders were restricted to 186/8 as they slumped to their fourth straight defeat in the competition.
Harbhajan has questioned KKR's approach and emphasized the need for the team to stick to a consistent strategy.In the seven games played so far, Kolkata Knight Riders have made numerous changes, particularly to their opening pair.
Litton Das was dropped for the match against the Chennai Super Kings. Narayan Jagadeesan was brought back to partner with Jason Roy.Unfortunately, they were forced to open with Sunil Narine as Roy sustained an injury while fielding and was unable to open and came in to bat at number five.
In their match against Delhi Capital on Thursday, KKR took the field with four changes in their line-up."You have to give some belief. You need to go with a plan, that this is your plan for this season and the intent with which you will play your cricket.
Of course, you have to make your game plan while respecting the opposition and keeping the conditions in mind," Harbhajan said on Star Sports in a post match show.Harbhajan has questioned KKR's approach and emphasized the need for the team to stick to a consistent strategy.
"You stick to your game plan for just one match and you see something else happening in the next match, some more changes happening, Shardul Thakur was not playing in this team. So, it is beyond my understanding.
It will not work out if you make changes in every match," he added.Harbhajan opined that KKR should give Nitish Rana the same level of freedom in selecting the team as CSK gives to Dhoni."There the role of the captain and the management becomes huge.
In CSK, Dhoni has full support to do whatever he wants. They have so much faith in this captain and that faith is earned. Similarly, if they give Nitish a little free hand so that he can form the team he wants, a lot of things can be solved," the former spinner concluded.