IPL 2023: KKR’s strength lies in their spin bowling, says Zaheer Khan

 Former speedster Zaheer Khan reckoned that Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) strength in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 lies in their spin bowling. Although Sunil Narine hasn’t performed in recent times, Varun Chakravarthy and Suyash Sharma have made inroads into the opposition batting.

On Wednesday, April 26, KKR defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 21 runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Khan said that the Knight Riders are a tough nut to crack in favourable spin-bowling conditions.

“First you plan a certain way and then you see the result on the pitch. KKR decided that against RCB, they'd use their spinners more. The spinners went and executed. It’s not just the captain, but you have to have bowlers of a high calibre.

“The one thing we’ve seen this evening is that KKR’s strength lies in their spin bowling. They leave an impact on a game with their bowling in favourable conditions,” Zaheer Khan told Jio Cinema.

Chakravarthy won the Player of the Match award after he finished with figures of 4-0-27-3. Suyash, on the other hand, picked up the crucial wickets of Faf du Plessis and Shahbaz Ahmed.

Eoin Morgan, former England skipper, in the meantime, heaped praise on Jason Roy for playing a whirlwind knock against RCB. Roy scored 56 runs off 29 balls with the help of four fours and five sixes. Roy has made an impact in all the three games he has played thus far.

“He’s so imposing at the top of the order. Not only does he possess a huge amount of power, there’s a lot of class there as well from the England international. He’s such a big performer. In any changing room he goes into, he breathes confidence.

“What a tall-statured guy, well-built and imposing. Jason stamps his authority early in the game. I think that was a huge point of difference for them,” Morgan added.