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Ahead of Kolkata Knight Riders clash with Chennai Super Kings, former Indian all-rounder Yusuf Pathan believes Sunil Narine and Andre Russell's disappointing performance could be the major reason the team is struggling.
"I am not able to figure out what is going wrong. These two are your match-winners, and when your match-winners don't perform, your team struggles. Perhaps fatigue could be a reason as they play the entire year. Having said that, everyone wants and expects them to do well," Yusuf Pathan said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. In this season, Narine has not performed to his full potential as he has picked only seven wickets in 12 matches, with an economy of 8.50, his lowest in an IPL season. Narine who has also won matches for KKR with his bat, has scored 153 runs with an average of 6.95 in the last three seasons. "We should see how Narine and Russell have performed in the last three years, or how many match-winning performances they have put in with bat or ball," Pathan said. Power hitter Russell has scored just 218 runs in 12 matches. In 2021, he smashed only 183 runs in nine games while in 2022 bagged 335 runs in 12 matches. "As a team, what do you think? If you want to look ahead to the future and go to the next level, then you should surely think about it, because if you look at the last few seasons, their performance hasn't been as good. As a senior player, there are expectations from you that you would get wickets or runs. If you are not able to do it, then you will have to face the questions," he added. Yusuf Pathan also thinks that age could not be a factor for their bad form as many other players at the same age are performing well. "I don't think age should be a factor, because there are others of similar age who are still playing and are performing well too.Plus, both of them play around the year. I feel if you are playing the entire year, then your body is in good shape," he concluded. (ANI)
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