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Former India all-rounder Yusuf Pathan feels that with long-time servants Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) management should start to look beyond them. Narine and Russell have been long-time servants for KKR, having joined them in 2012 and 2014, respectively. However, their performances have not been up to the mark over the past few seasons. While Narine has managed only seven wickets in 12 games so far in IPL 2023, Russell has scored just 218 in as many games this year.
KKR legend Yusuf, who won two IPL titles with them, feels that franchise may have to look beyond Narine and Russell if they’re looking to build for the future.
“We should see how Narine and Russell have performed in the last three years, or how many match-winning performances they have put in with bat or ball. As a team, what do you think? If you want to look ahead to the future and go to the next level, then you should surely think about it, because if you look at the last few seasons, their performance hasn’t been as good. As a senior player, there are expectations from you that you would get wickets or runs. If you are not able to do it, then you will have to face the questions,” Yusuf Pathan said on ESPNcricinfo’s show T20 Time:Out Hindi.
On being asked whether age could be a factor behind their dip-in form, Yusuf said that it is more about fatigue as both Narine and Russell play franchise cricket all over the year.
“I don’t think age should be a factor, because there are others of similar age who are still playing, and are performing well too. Plus, both of them play around the year. I feel if you are playing the entire year, then your body is in good shape. I am not able to figure out what is going wrong. These two are your match-winners, and when your match-winners don’t perform, your team struggles. Perhaps fatigue could be a reason as they play the entire year. Having said that, everyone wants and expects them to do well,” he added.
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