After leading Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders for two years, Dinesh Karthik stepped down as the captain of the team in IPL 2020. Eoin Morgan took over the reins of KKR for the 13th season of the premier league. Karthik, who has been facing criticism for his poor form, took the decision to focus more on his batting.

England's World Cup winning captain, Eoin Morgan, was already playing as a member of KKR and this move had been in talks for a while now. Karthik's decision to step down comes amid KKR's average performance so far in the league and questionable strategic moves.

Gautam Gambhir
File photo of India opener Gautam GambhirLAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP/GettyImages

Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore made the announcement and said, "We are fortunate to have leaders such as DK who has always put the team first. It takes a lot of courage for someone like him to make a decision such as this. While we were surprised by his decision, we are respectful of his wishes. We are also fortunate that Eoin Morgan, the 2019 World Cup-winning captain, who has been the vice-captain, is willing to lead the side going forward. DK and Eoin have worked brilliantly together during this tournament and although Eoin takes over as captain, this is effectively a role swap and we expect that this transition will work in a seamless manner."

Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan react

Soon after the announcement was made, Gautam Gambhir shot back with a fiery response. He tweeted, "It takes years to build a legacy but a minute to destroy it."

Dinesh Karthik had taken over the captaincy of KKR after Gautam Gambhir's exit from the team in 2017. Irfan Pathan also tweeted, "Mid season change in Captaincy is never a comfortable situation for the team members. Hope #kkr doesn't go astray from here. They are very much in the race for the playoffs! #DineshKarthik #Eoinmorgan"

KKR saw an embarrassing defeat by the hands of Mumbai Indians under the captainship of Eoin Morgan last night. Under Karthik's leadership, the team had won four matches where Morgan's performance was the driving force for the win.

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