Why is he playing? : Yusuf Pathan To KKR's Nitish Rana After MI Loss

image-lgkhwbrfMumbai Indians stand-in skipper, Suryakumar Yadav with Kolkata Knight Riders Captain, Nitish Rana (IplT20.com)

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) is going through a rough patch with two consecutive losses in the tournament, and fans and experts have criticized the team selection of Nitish Rana. In the match, chasing a target of 186 runs, MI successfully reached the target in just 17.4 overs, due to the extraordinary efforts by Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav, who also played crucial innings of 43 runs off 25 balls to help MI secure the victory.

KKR's bowling department managed to take two wickets, with Impact Player Suyash Sharma being the pick of the bowlers. However, their overall performance was not enough to stop MI from winning the match.

KKR's pacers had a poor outing in the match, with Lockie Ferguson, Shardul Thakur, and Umesh Yadav struggling to contain MI's batters and leaking runs at a high economy rate.

However, KKR had an impressive inning with the bat, with Venkatesh Iyer scoring a brilliant century to help his team post a total of 185/6 in 20 overs. Iyer's knock of 104 runs off just 51 balls was the highlight of KKR's innings, and he dominated the MI bowlers throughout his innings. In contrast, MI's Hrithik Shokeen picked up two wickets, which helped restrict KKR's scoring rate towards the end of the innings.

Former KKR player Yusuf Pathan expressed his doubts about Nitish Rana's team selection strategy after the team's loss to Mumbai Indians and said:

"I was surprised why he selected Ferguson in the playing XI. If you are not giving him the new ball, why is he playing? He is now bowling that well, so maybe change him for someone else because his pace bowling attack is coming across as very weak."

He also felt that Umesh Yadav has been struggling due to the lack of good support from the team's other pacers and further added:

"Shardul Thakur, Ferguson and Umesh Yadav are there. Last season, Umesh was brilliant and showed good form. But he needs a wicket-taking partner so that the entire pressure doesn't fall on him. If there is so much pressure on a fast bowler, then maybe even he won't be able to perform well. The other two pacers need to perform better. They should also check for other options."

They are placed at the 5th spot, having won two games and lost three.

Nevertheless, the team can take heart from the impressive innings of Venkatesh Iyer and look to improve in their upcoming matches. It will be interesting to see how KKR bounces back from these defeats and whether they make any changes in their team selection for their next match in the IPL against the Delhi Capitals.