Dinesh Karthik reveals why he quit as KKR captain; Eoin Morgan says 'It was courageous'

Former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Dinesh Karthik has finally opened up on handing over the captaincy to fellow teammate Eoin Morgan during the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Karthik quit as captain of KKR mid-season in UAE last year, following which Morgan was handed over the reign for the rest of the matches, a role he retained in IPL 2021. Karthik, while speaking about his decision to step down as captain of KKR, said he wanted to give Morgan a chance because the tournament had already reached mid-season and it would have been very unfair of him to continue if the team was performing so poorly that they had no chance further in the league.

"I wanted to give Morgan a chance because it was really important, we had played seven and there were seven more games to go, so we had enough time. It would have been very unfair of me to move on if we were doing so badly that we had no chance further in the tournament. In the 2.5 years that I have led the team, I think I earned the trust of the boys. I think that's very important as a leader. They know for a fact that they would get a lot of honesty from me. That makes things easy and Morgan is very similar to me on that front. I think the boys believed that both the people put the team ahead of themselves and that's why the decision was taken,” Karthik was quoted as saying on KKR's website. 

McCullum and Morgan speak about Karthik's decision

KKR coach Brendon McCullum said that Karthik wanted to concentrate more on his batting and he himself suggested Morgan's name after winning the game against Chennai Super Kings on October 7 last year.  The decision wasn't an overnight call as it had been brewing between the management and players for at least a week before the official announcement. 

Speaking about Karthik's decision to step down as captain, KKR's current skipper Eoin Morgan said the wicketkeeper-batsman was very logical and selfless from his point of view, calling it "incredibly courageous". Morgan said, "It wasn't an emotional decision. He was actually very logical and selfless from his point of view and to show the courage to step down in the middle of the competition based on (what) you think is better for the team, is incredibly courageous." The 2019 World Cup-winning skipper was given the charge mid-season, following which he led his team to three victories out of the seven matches that they played. KKR failed to qualify for the playoff because of their poor run rate. 

Kolkata Knight Riders started the 2021 season with a bang as the team defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 10 runs. KKR lost its second game against Mumbai Indians by 10 runs and is currently awaiting a face-off against Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the first of the two matches scheduled to take place today. 

(Image Credit: PTI)