Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are set to face Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 on May 20. Ahead of the playoff encounter, their English opener Phil Salt has joined the national side for the upcoming four-T20I series against Pakistan. While losing Salt's services is a big blow for KKR considering the formidable opening partnership he formed with Sunil Narine, former Indian opener Virender Sehwag feels that it does not drop the value of KKR side.
"It's not like one player's absence will drop the value of your team. It's just that the other player needs to perform well. What will actually matter is that one of your in-form players will be absent. How Phil Salt has performed, the runs he has scored, the strike rate he batted with, these will be missed by KKR," Sehwag said in a conversation with ESPNCricinfo.
"However, it can also happen that someone can step up and perform better than Salt in that match. All he has to do is play one match right? So I'd rather look at it positively. You have bought the rest of the players for this sort of moments, right? So that if one gets injured or leaves mid-way, another player can step up." he added.
Salt’s IPL 2024 numbers
Salt who was roped in as Jason Roy's replacement was in tremendous form in IPL 2024. From 12 games, he scored 435 runs at an average of 39.55 including four half-centuries. His strike rate is an outstanding 182.01.
How Gurbaz fare in last season
For the clash against SRH at Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium, Ahmedabad, Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz is likely to replace Salt. Gurbaz hasn't played a single game this season. In the previous season, he scored 227 runs from 11 games at an average of 20.64 including two half-centuries. His strike rate was 133.53.
The other wicketkeeping option
If KKR decide against including Gurbaz, they have a wicketkeeper-batter option in KS Bharat. They can bolster their middle order in form of West Indies batter Sherfane Rutherford or use Angrish Raghuvanshi at the top.
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