Kolkata Knight Riders carried forward the winning momentum when they hosted Punjab Kings in the IPL 2023 encounter at the Eden Gardens on Monday evening. After being asked to field first, something which skipper Nitish Rana was not looking forward to had he won the toss, KKR didn’t let the contest slip from their hands.

The team scalped wickets at regular intervals as Punjab piled a stiff 179/7 on the board in 20 overs. KKR in response got off to a decent start but they too kept losing wickets at regular intervals. However, a late blitz by Andre Russell and Rinku Singh saved the day for KKR as they chased down the target in the final delivery and won the match by five wickets.

While things did fall in place for Nitish Rana and Co., one point that left many confused was his reluctance towards handing the ball to Shardul Thakur. Shardul didn’t roll his arms throughout the Punjab innings as Rana relied on uncapped seamers Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora to do the job.

Shardul didn’t get much to do with the bat either as he joined the 180-run chase in the final delivery but at the non-striker’s end as KKR required just two runs. Rinku then wrapped the show by hitting a boundary in the final delivery.

Meanwhile, former India spinner and coach Anil Kumble didn’t really understand the motive behind Rana not utilising Shardul with the ball, considering it is his primary role in the team.

“He probably would be marking his run up at the Oval. He doesn’t get an over which is very strange. He’s a quality bowler. Yes he gives runs but he has the knack to pick wickets as well,” Kumble noted on Jio Cinema, the official streaming partners of IPL 2023.

While the decision to not use Shardul didn’t hurt much but it does raise questions over his fitness. This was the second time in the season when Shardul was not asked to bowl a single over despite him being a part of the playing XI.

A similar point was highlighted after KKR’s match against Gujarat Titans, which they lost by seven wickets. KKR wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz had then dismissed any concern related to Shardul’s fitness but pointed towards the skipper and coach, stating they will help them with the exact reason behind the move.