IPL 2021: Eoin Morgan feels he 'hasn’t done the job a captain needs to do' for KKR

Kolkata Knight Riders’ skipper Eoin Morgan admitted that he hasn’t been up to the task as a captain for the franchise in the Indian Premier League. Even as a host of England cricketers, including Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan among others backed out from playing in the second leg of the IPL 2021 in the UAE, Morgan confirmed his participation for the Men in Gold and Purple.

Back in the 2020 edition, Morgan took over the reins of KKR from Dinesh Karthik but failed to take the team through to the playoffs. Even in the 2021 edition of the league, the Knights have strained somewhat. On leading KKR, Morgan said that he has failed to deliver the results. The southpaw spoke on the same in a documentary titled "We are KKR" on the franchise’s YouTube channel.

A captain is judged by results, says Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan

“A captain is only judged by performance and it hasn’t been good. I haven’t done the job a captain needs to do. You can talk about captaincy in the level of leadership and the intricacy of it all day but ultimately a captain is judged by results,” Morgan was quoted as saying.

The Knights are ranked seventh in IPL 2021 with two wins out of seven games. Former KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik, who’s also a part of the KKR documentary, reckoned that the team has the ability to stage a comeback with its back pushed to the wall. 

“It has been up and down. I think we have played some good cricket in patches but we haven’t been consistent. I think that’s why we are at this stage right now. I think we are definitely capable of better cricket. At various points of time, different people have stood up and at times the main guys haven’t stood up,” Karthik said.

Brendon McCullum, the former New Zealand cricketer and KKR’s head coach, stated that the team needs to stay focussed on playing good cricket rather than paying heed to 'white noise', “To be fair, I think we have to just go out and play and be able to put all the white noise to the side, just trust our skills,” McCullum said.

KKR is set to play Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday, September 20 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi in their first match of IPL 2021. 

Image: PTI