IPL 2025: Aakash Chopra Warns KKR Against Overreliance on Sunil Narine’s Batting in IPL 2025
Aakash Chopra has expressed concerns over Kolkata Knight Riders’ overdependence on Sunil Narine as a key batter in IPL 2025. Despite his impressive IPL 2024 performance, Chopra warns that Narine’s past batting inconsistency and the pressure to replicate his form could pose a risk of choke for KKR. He also highlights concerns regarding KKR’s inexperienced seam-bowling attack.
As the IPL 2025 season draws closer, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) face growing scrutiny over their decision to continue relying on Sunil Narine as a key batter, despite his breakout performance in IPL 2024. Narine’s remarkable 488-run tally, with a strike rate of 180.74, was one of the major talking points of the previous season. However, cricket pundit Aakash Chopra has raised concerns about the sustainability of Narine’s batting form.
While Narine’s partnership with Phil Salt was integral to KKR’s third IPL title in 2024, Salt’s departure leaves KKR uncertain about their opening combination. Chopra warned against overestimating Narine’s consistency, citing his underwhelming batting performances in previous seasons and across other tournaments. He said:
You are assuming that Sunil Narine will have a similar season as a batter……I would say what happened last year was an aberration and I am saying that because if you see the three seasons before that as a batter….he has not scored the runs at all. So how can you assume that he will do very well? (Phil) Salt won’t be there with him in any case.
Chopra cautioned about the absence of key players like Shreyas Iyer and Nitish Rana, which could exacerbate the problem if the opening pair fails. In addition, he also expressed concerns over KKR’s inexperienced pace attack, with players like Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora in the mix, absence of any senior bowler who can lead from the front.
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