Eoin Morgan is going through his worst Indian Premier League (IPL) season as a batsman. Despite his relatively better run as a captain in the second phase of IPL 2021, Morgan's numbers with bat have not been this bad for a while. The KKR skipper has scored just 17 runs from four innings since the resumption of IPL 2021. Batting at no.4, the southpaw has not been able to register a single double-digit score whether KKR is batting first, chasing a small score or a challenging one.
Numbers in current season
Morgan has scored just 109 runs from 12 games at an average of 10.90 and a strike rate of 100.92. Had Morgan not been the captain of the KKR side, he would have made way for another overseas batter. He has remained unbeaten just once and his best score in the season is unbeaten 47 where KKR were chasing a small target of 124. The last time Morgan's numbers were this bad was in 2011 when he played for KKR under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir. He scored 137 runs from 12 games including a solitary half-century. His strike rate was slightly better at 117.09 but not enough runs under his belt.
Massive slump from last season
There is a stark difference between Morgan's performance with the bat this year and in 2020. Playing the whole season in UAE, the 35-year-old finished as the second-highest run-scorer for the Kolkata-based franchise. He scored 418 runs from 14 games at an average of 41.80, which is just shy of four times his average in current season. He maintained a healthy strike rate of 138.41. However, he had only one half-century under his belt in the season.
Once again, KKR are fighting for the fourth spot on the points table. Venkatesh Iyer in his debut season has showed promise whereas Rahul Tripathi has regained his form. But, the problem for KKR remains in the middle order which will be exposed if their top order fails. Also, with Andre Russell out injured, Morgan needs to find his form to become a batting asset for the team like he was in the previous season. In international cricket, Morgan has dropped himself to provide better balance to the team. He did so in 2018 by making Jos Buttler captain and replace himself with Sam Curran for an ODI against Sri Lanka. However, it is unlikely to happen for KKR as they lack an experienced skipper, especially after Dinesh Karthik stepped down from the position last year.
