u/Disastrous-Bite-5189

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Now, I guess most KKR fans would hate to see Hardik Pandya in our squad, in fact that's understandable considering his persona and the way he goes on about things.

However, here's my opinions on why it could be a good idea:

• First off, we have too many batters at the top and we need to fix our mind on choices. Perhaps that should be Allen and Angki as they're our long term prospect in some or the other way.
• Green IS our long shot and we need to back him at number 3 anyhow, we've seen how he performs everytime the top order collapses. We cannot blame him for not giving us 50+ whenever we collapse..him scoring 30+ and getting out trying to take on the pressure is more than suffice intent for us to believe in him.
• Now here is the problem I have noticed, after Green we only have Rinku who's as reliable as it gets and we can't expect him to take us over the line every single match. This is where we need a good number 4 batter and that has to be someone like Hardik Pandya. You may ask, why him? because when we refer to our 2024 template, there was a reliable number 4-5 batter, Shreyas Iyer. Hardik Pandya can pretty much do exactly that if we let him do his thing and let the squad revolve around him.
• Yes, in the very long term, the squad should eventually revolve around Green but for that we have to be patient and groom him to be our captain prospect or at least the fixed top order 2-3 batter for next few seasons. The potential he has is IMMENSE, I mean you don't find players who have the calibre to score centuries and take wickets once in a while.
• Coming back to the point of having Hardik Pandya in the team, Green will not have to take on all the pressure when our top order collapses. He needs to take his time and play freely without worrying about having to play safely and keep the wicket so we don't collapse at a low score.
• Another question might be on why no OS pacer? I.E Pathirana or Muzarbani? Well, in a squad with Hardik, we will already have four pace options. That is at least twelve overs of pace considering Green and Hardik don't complete their quota. Hardik has experience in bowling for all sorts of conditions as well, at least would be MILES BETTER in middle/death overs than someone like Arora or Saini.
• For lower order, I've kept Powell because I don't see any better option coming in auction or being traded for that point of the game. We can't quite replace Powell because of the experience he brings, WI T20 captain, can anchor as well as hit, takes the game deep. He knows the game better than most of our squad, and we've already seen the kind of fielder he is, the presence itself is worth a shot.
• The remaining options are very obvious I guess? Our spin trio, backing Anukul because of his all round potential and already promising positives. The pace duo of Harshit and Tyagi should not even be a question at this point. Neither do I need to elaborate about Rinku. All I would like to say is that Hardik's persona should not hinder us from exploiting the calibre and balance he would bring to our team.
• So that is all for today, I've presented my opinions and I'd love to hear it from y'all too. Cheers, hoping for the best in remaining matches!

1. Allen is a must, he has the intent, has the power. We have to keep him at the top regardless of anything. Let him get going for the rest of the matches..dropping him will just hamper his rhythm which we are in dire need of.
2. We still have to get our batting order right, Green in when Allen gets out and Raghuvanshi in when Rahane gets out. We can't afford Rahane and Raghuvanshi just rotating the strike in the middle overs.
3. Who the hell gets Manish Pandey in big 2026? We can already see a generational gap between senior and junior players...and you're pulling out an ancient player in midst of all that? We should rather rope in Tejasvi for the sake of god.
4. Now my favourite point if not all of ours, we are the best fielding side this IPL..our catching efficiency has been top class. We saw it in work this match..catches win matches.
5. Rinku is still carrying his goated finishing form, though I do believe we should've finished the game earlier..if it wasn't for our amazing test batters at the top.
6. What was Arora doing in pp bro? Dawg gave 4 short balls in that over and that too 3 CONSECUTIVE SHORT BALLS FOR BOUNDARIES. Horrible inconsistency. Idk why we're not trying Saraubh Dubey...I mean it can't be worse than Arora.
7. Anyway, that's all for us knights, cheers to our win and once again we won't go to bed sobbing. Hoping we continue with our lousy win streak from here on!