Kolkata Knight Riders may have bagged one point courtesy rain at the Eden Gardens on Monday, but the performance of their two overseas players didn’t go unnoticed.
Skipper Ajinkya Rahane surprised everyone by opting to bat first in bowler friendly conditions. KKR’s overseas batter Finn Allen and Cameron Green were dismissed for 6 and 4, respectively. With the hosts reduced to 25 for 2 in 3.4 overs, rain stopped play, and later the match was called off.
But experts have come down heavily on Green’s poor batting given at the price (Rs 25.20 crore) he was bought at the auction. Moreover, with the no bowling restriction by Cricket Australia, his place in the playing XI becomes more questionable. Kevin Pietersen and Sanjay Bangar have also questioned his batting position.
“I’m against talking about the money because the money is something that just happens. These guys don’t earn as much money as some of the other sportsmen around the world. But obviously, a lot of people like to talk about what I like to talk about, which is cricketing ability. And whether or not you’re good enough to be in a position of power and batting a three in an IPL team, you have to be good enough to be able to perform at that level,” former England capatain Pietersen said on JioHotstar.
“And I don’t think that he’s good enough to bat at No. 3. He’s not bowling, so you have a look at what he has done. Yes, I’ve seen his, he got a 100 in Mumbai a couple of years ago. I’ve not seen enough of Cam Green to warrant batting a 3 here and taking on that responsibility. He’s a middle-order batter who bowls a bit, and that’s what he does,” he added.
Former India batter Sanjay Bangar, who has also worked with a few IPL franchises in the past, also reiterated to what Pietersen said. He too believes that Green is a middle-order batter who could also bowl.
“You have to think of the specialists. If you think of Rachin Ravindra and Cameron Green, they are not necessarily proven T20 players, and when you are picking overseas players, they have to be specialists because there are only four spots available. So, if you look at who is the ideal player, if Cameron Green is not bowling, then he doesn’t fit into that, you know, just a batsman category as far as an overseas batter is concerned,” said Bangar.
“So, you might as well think of Rovman Powell, who is a proven T20 specialist who bats and does a very specialised job. So, I like Powell for the fact that he is a specialist, does a role, and he is a proven commodity rather than hoping that someone would come good,” he also said.
