Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has tipped Kolkata Knight Riders as the best spin attack in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League. KKR has impressive spinners like Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, Suyash Sharma, and Anukul Roy in their squad.
Chopra noted that while Narine is always economical, Chakravarthy was brilliant for KKR in the previous season. Varun had scalped 20 wickets in 14 matches in IPL 2023 at an average of 21.45.
Furthermore, Narine had bagged 11 wickets in 14 matches at an economy rate of 7.97. Moreover, Suyash Sharma had also impressed in his debut season in the IPL, taking 10 wickets in 11 matches for Kolkata.
Meanwhile, the Kolkata track is expected to assist the fast bowlers but Chopra reckons the franchise’s strategy will be to make spin-friendly pitches.
Speaking on his YouTube Channel, “As soon as I think about spin, I don’t know why, but my mind goes towards Kolkata. Kolkata’s strategy will be to make spin-friendly pitches. They have Sunil Narine, who always plays in the XI. He is not a wicket-taker, it’s not that he takes four-wicket hauls, but he is always economical.”
“After that, they have an amazing bowler in Varun Chakaravarthy whose stature grew suddenly last year and he was absolutely stellar. Then they have Suyash Sharma. So these are three frontline spinners who will play in the XI for sure,” the former India opener added.
On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals also have a potent spin battery as they have spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin, Adam Zampa, and Yuzvendra Chahal but Chopra feels their problem is that they can’t play the trio together.
“You can’t ignore Rajasthan. They have Yuzi (Yuzvendra) Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin, and along with them Adam Zampa. Their problem is they aren’t able to play the three of them together. They keep finding a third spinner. They played Murugan Ashwin a lot and played Zampa very little.”
Chopra also expressed his surprise that Yuzi Chahal hasn’t produced great numbers while playing in Jaipur.
“They go towards an overseas fast bowler and search for a batter at times. They have India’s No. 1 and No. 2 type of spinners in Yuzi Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin. For some strange reason, Yuzi Chahal does not have very good numbers at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium,” Chopra noted.
IPL 2024 will begin on March 22 with CSK taking on RCB at Chennai.
