IPL 2021: "Consistency and security to players" - Deep Dasgupta decodes KKR's winning mantra in the UAE leg

Former Indian cricketer Deep Dasgupta has attributed a sense of security among players and backing from the team management as reasons behind the change in fortunes of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL 2021 second leg.

Having managed just two wins from their first seven games, KKR looked down and out at the start of the UAE leg. However, the Morgan-led unit scripted a remarkable turnaround by winning five out of their next seven games to storm into the playoffs.

In a live interaction with fans on his YouTube channel, Dasgupta was asked by a fan about KKR's mantra that led to such a stunning turnaround.

The former stumper reckoned that unlike past seasons, KKR management has stuck with the same set of batters at the top of the order. This has resulted in guys like Venkatesh Iyer, Shubman Gill and Rahul Tripathi expressing themselves without fear of getting dropped.

"Kolkata's Mantra has been to play with freedom. Freedom comes when your selectors, coaches, team management and your captain backs you to play every match. And when a player gets that security he can play freely. And that is what happened with KKR. They haven't made many changes throughout the season in their top order," said Dasgupta.

"Venkatesh Iyer seems to have carried the team as far as batting is concerned. So everything is falling into place. The only change that they made in the second half was either of Krishna or a couple of forced changes. That consistency is one reason for the success and obviously security to the players," he added.

Iyer and Gill have chipped in with match-winning performances consistently during the second leg while Tripathi at No.3 has been an ideal foil.

The right-handed batter has ensured that he raises the tempo of the innings during the middle-overs which isn't exactly what we have seen from other teams.

"The unavailability of Pat Cummins was a blessing in disguise" - Deep Dasgupta

Dasgupta further added that the unavailability of Pat Cummins has proved to be a blessing in disguise for both Lockie Ferguson and KKR.

Ferguson has thus far claimed 10 wickets in five games at an average of 11.2 and an economy rate of 6.22.

Apart from Ferguson, what KKR has hugely benefited from is the form of their spin duo of Varun Chakravarthy and especially Sunil Narine, claimed the former Bengal cricketer.

"The unavailability of Pat Cummins was a blessing in disguise maybe. And the most important thing about the team is Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine. They are bowling beautifully and even when they don't take wickets, they don't give away runs freely," Dasgupta said.

KKR fans will hope that the two-time champions carry their form to the playoffs. The two-time IPL champions will lock horns with Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Eliminator on October 11.