IPL 2020: Dinesh Karthik hands over KKR captaincy to Eoin Morgan

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Dinesh Karthik has decided to step down from his position and handed the reins to England’s limited-over skipper Eoin Morgan. Eoin will lead the team for the remainder of the Indian Premier League. The franchise announced the news on their official website on Friday.

Karthik has led KKR in seven games so far out which they have won four games and are placed fourth on the IPL 2020 points table.

Accroding to the franchise, Dinesh Karthik made the decision to focus on his batting and contributing more to the team’s cause.

“We are fortunate to have leaders such as DK, who has always put the team first. It takes a lot of courage for someone like him to take a decision such as this. While we were surprised by his decision, we are respectful of his wishes,” said Venky Mysore, CEO of KKR, was quoted as saying on the official website.

Calls have been growing louder on social media and within the cricketing fraternity for Eoin Morgan to take over the captaincy from Dinesh Karthik, who has been criticised for some of his decisions this season.

Karthik has led KKR in 37 games since 2018 in which he won 19 and lost 17. KKR had qualified for the playoffs in DK’s debut season with the team as skipper, finishing 3rd in 2018 but failed to make the knockouts last year after ending 5th in the league stage.

Karthik had the second best win-percentage (52.70%) among all KKR skippers after two-time IPL-winning captain Gautam Gambhir (57.43%) but still took the decision to hand over the leadership to Morgan, who lifted the 50-over ICC World Cup for England last year on home soil.