Kolkata Knight Riders’ ploy to hold back both Rinku Singh and Andre Russell in their batting order against Lucknow Super Giants at the Eden on Tuesday was quite baffling.

Instead of sending two of their match-winners early, the team management promoted Ramandeep Singh and Angkrish Raghuvanshi up the order, which only made matters tougher for the Knights as they eventually lost the game by four runs. However, vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer tried to justify their decision, saying every move is “well thought of” in the Knight Riders set-up.

“There are grounds where we also have to consider the left hand-right hand combination. So, there are a lot of things we have to consider and alter certain batter’s
entry point.

“But trust me, everything is well thought of. We have a lot of experience with (mentor) DJ (Dwayne) Bravo, and every decision that they make is well thought of,” Venkatesh said at the news conference on Thursday, the eve of the Knights’ clash against Chennai Super Kings at the Chepauk.

Russell hasn’t even got a double-digit score in the five matches so far. But are the Knights getting Russell’s position in the batting order right?

“The entry point of batters is everything in T20s. But in a team like KKR, where the batting order is known to be deep and we have the firepower to finish the game on a high, I think there shouldn’t be much of a doubt.

“People wouldn’t be talking about when Russell should come in or not. We should not forget that we have Rinku and Ramandeep as well. Yes, Russell has been doing well at the death for a long time, but we have ample competition for him,” Venkatesh said.

Skipper Ajinkya Rahane’s deputy also asserted that KKR were not a conditions-dependent side. “We never look at what the best conditions are for us. We prepare ourselves for good conditions of cricket.

“If a team has to be champions, then it has to understand that in all conditions, you need to have the combination that can do well,” he said.