Ex-KKR CEO claims Eoin Morgan was 'protected' from Wasim Akram's bowling in IPL 2012

Cricket analyst and presenter Joy Bhattacharya was earlier associated with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Indian Premier League (IPL) as franchise's director. Quite recently, Bhattacharya recalled an incident from ir title-winning campaign in  IPL 2012 which involved Eoin Morgan and n bowling coach, former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram. ex-KKR head claimed that during IPL 2012 season, current England captain was protected from facing Wasim Akram by KKR team manment.

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Former KKR chief praises Wasim Akram

While interacting with 'Face of IPL' Gaurav Kapur on a podcast of Oaktree Sports, Joy Bhattacharya stated that during a net session of KKR from IPL 2012, n bowling coach Wasim Akram was stopped by a top member of team manment to bowl to  woefully out-of-form batsman Eoin Morgan in nets. ex-KKR head revealed that Trevor Bayliss, who was head coach at time, had told him about same. Bayliss claimed that had Akram bowled to Eoin Morgan, it would have t done his confidence any good as  ‘Sultan of Swing’ was as potent as he was his prime even though he was 45 back n and just took 3 steps to bowl a bit fast post his retirement in 2003.

Bhattacharya, along with Gaurav Kapur, n went on to admire Akram’s abilities with ball and praised legendary Pakistani pacer.

Former KKR Team Director reveals details about “protected” Eoin Morgan, watch video

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Wasim Akram’s IPL alliance with Gautam Gambhir’s KKR

Wasim Akram was appointed as bowling coach of KKR in IPL 2010 and legendary pacer remained attached to role till 2016 season. It was earlier reported that former Indian and KKR captain Sourav Ganguly was responsible for Wasim Akram’s signing into franchise. While Ganguly was released by franchise prior to IPL 2011, Wasim Akram maintained his KKR association by forming a coach-captain partnership with Gautam Gambhir. His stint turned out to be a successful one as KKR lifted coveted IPL trophy twice during his tenure, i.e. in 2012 and 2014.

Wasim Akram’s career at a glance

Wasim Akram made his international debut in 1984 and was a crucial member of victorious Pakistani line-up at 1992 World Cup. In 2003, left-arm pacer became first bowler in world to bag 500 wickets in ODIs and is currently second-highest wicket-taker of format. Apart from claiming ar 414 wickets in Tests, Akram was also a quality lower-order batsman, who scored over 5,000 international runs across 104 Tests and 356 ODIs.

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