KKR lose without Liton

Liton Das was on the bench again as Kolkata Knight Riders lost their Indian Premier League match against Mumbai Indians by five wickets at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.

KKR scored 185-6 courtesy of Venkatesh Iyer’s brilliant 104 off just 51 balls. Iyer hit six fours and nine sixes to reach the hundred. With the ball, Hrithik Shokeen took two wickets for Mumbai.

Mumbai in return, reached the target with five wickets and 14 balls in hand depending on Ishan Kishan’s 58 off 25 balls and Suryakumar Yadav’s 43.

It was KKR’s third loss in the league and they are only into the fifth matchday.

Batting first, KKR stumbled in the second over as opener Narayan Jagadeesan was out without scoring a run in the second over, while the other opener, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who is Liton’s main competitor for a spot in the KKR XI, was out scoring only eight runs off 12 balls.

It was Iyer who singlehandedly took his side to a challenging score.

IPL teams can only include four overseas players into the playing XI, and for KKR it has been wicket-keeper batter Rahmanullah, all-rounders Andre Russel and Sunil Narine, and pacer Lockie Ferguson.

If Liton is to be included in the XI, Rahmanullah, who has scored only 23 runs in the last three matches, needs to be benched.

The Afghan opener’s current form might open the door for Liton, who is involved in the IPL for the first time this season, into the XI but he will also face stern competition from English opener Jason Roy, who was signed as the replacement for Shakib Al Hasan after the Bangladesh all-rounder opted out of the tournament due to a packed domestic schedule.

KKR’s next match is scheduled on Thursday, where they will meet Delhi Capitals, the outfit for whom Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman is playing this year.