Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has urged Kolkata Knight Riders to lay stress on spin, particularly keeping in mind their duo of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine.
Du Plessis said the Knight Riders should be asking for spinning tracks at Eden Gardens to brighten their prospects this season.
“If I was part of the KKR team management, I would ask the groundsman at Eden Gardens to make the wicket spin-friendly. KKR are blessed to have two absolute cannons in Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine,” he said.
“They are two of the best T20 spinners in the game right now. Both, Varun and Narine, have to be in the game. If they play on surfaces where they are not in contention, then you are losing those two cannons and your superpower.
“Yes, they can bowl well on any wicket and trouble batters. But for KKR to be successful this IPL, Varun and Narine need to fire. The pitch should be prepared keeping those two players in mind,”
he added.
The Ajinkya Rahane-led team will open their campaign against Mumbai Indians on March 29 at the Wankhede.
Du Plessis said Cameron Green will also be crucial to their plans though the all-rounder would be under tremendous price-tag pressure given his ₹25.2-crore contract.