Kolkata, Aug 20 (UNI) With the Indian Premier League (IPL) all set to take place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from September 19, KKR head coach Brendon McCullum spoke about having more than a few leaders in the dugout and also said young Shubman Gill will be a part of the leadership core.
KKR will be captained by Dinesh Karthik once again in this year IPL and England’s World Cup winning skipper Eoin Morgan will be the vice-captain.
McCullum said, “I’m really looking forward to working with DK in particular. We get on, really really well. We are quite different in personalities but we share some common thoughts too and we share a common passion for the game and for people. I guess time will tell, but that's kind of the goal and hopefully we've given you a bit of an insight into how the inner workings of KKR will operate this year.”
“You've got to break DK down a little bit into different parts to understand this. I think first and foremost, wicketkeeping. He's up there with the very best wicket keepers in India. Then you move on to his batting and he's as good and as adaptable in any role. He doesn't come with perhaps, the stardom that some guys do and that's just DK’s personality. But he's a big star within the KKR franchise, he’s now been at the helm for a couple of years and he's had some success,” McCullum said on Knights Unplugged.
“The team hasn't quite got over the line, but I think DK is in that stage in his leadership where he's almost ready to really mature and to really take ownership of the Knight Riders set up and back his judgement. What we tried to do throughout the auction process as well was to provide him with some strong leadership on the field. We've obviously already got the likes of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine, but to have added Pat Cummins and Eoin Morgan in particular to that leadership group, and also provide him behind the scenes with some support staff who will be able to assist DK as well,” the KKR head coach said.
I think there'll be a nice layer of leadership around DK where he's able to really prosper and touch all of the members of the Kolkata line up to try and get the very best out of themselves,” he said.
“I love DK as a person. He's quite intense at times which I love, we just need to provide him with some support. His passion for the game and his love of people is just infectious,” McCullum said.
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