Graeme Swann picks Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as favourites to lift Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy

New Delhi: Former England cricketer and ex-Rajasthan Royals member Graeme Swann named Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as his favourite to win the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 saying “they have all the areas covered.”

 The IPL 2024 has reached its end stage of the tournament as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) marched into the final, beating Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight wickets in Qualfier 1 at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. In Eliminator 1, Rajasthan Royals (RR) knocked out Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the same venue to face SRH in the Qualifier 2 at MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday.

“KKR are the one who will lift the trophy in the finals from what I can see, as they have all the areas covered out, be it batting, bowling or fielding, they have dominated this season of IPL and with Gautam Gambhir as their head coach they are the best,” said Swann told IANS.

At the Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday, after dismissing Head with the one coming back in sharply on the second ball of the game, Starc proceeded to take out Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shahbaz Ahmed on consecutive balls in the fifth over to rattle SRH in the power-play. Overall, Starc picked 3-34 and was named Player of the Match in KRR marching to Sunday’s final in Chennai via a big win in Qualifier 1.

With Starc back in form Swann warned other teams to be very scared of the star Australian bowler as he knows how to handle the pressure of the finals. “He (Mitchell Starc) is back in form and its’ kind of a threat to other teams whoever reaches the finals. The guy knows how to handle the pressure of big matches, he has played a lot in that situation and will be deadly. The best thing about him is the raw pace that he has and with the one coming into the stumps hae can beat any batter in the world. We have already seen what he did to his teammate Travis Head, who is in the form of his life this season. So, my advice to other teams is to play cautiously against Starc and try to cut off his swing by charging on the ball,” he said. IANS

Also Read: Kolkata Knight Riders storm into IPL final beats Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 wickets

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