Time to turn things around, says new KKR skipper Eoin Morgan

Bengaluru, October 17: Eoin Morgan, who took over Kolkata Knight Riders captaincy from Dinesh Karthik said it was time for the Kolkata-based franchise to turn things around, especially with the tournament having reached the half-way mark.

Ahead of Match 32 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 in the UAE, Karthik expressed his wish to relinquish the hot seat to concentrate more on his batting.

KKR management did not think twice before appointing England's World Cup-winning captain as Karthik's successor.

Dinesh Karthik steps down as Kolkata Knight Riders captain, Eoin Morgan to lead

Though Morgan began his stint as KKR skipper with a heavy loss against IPL's reigning champions Mumbai Indians, he hopes for a quick turnaround saying the time is ripe to pull up the socks.

"From here, we've an area of improvement where we need to make strides on. We're at the halfway mark in this tournament and there's no better time to turn things around," Morgan said in the post-match press conference.

Mumbai Indians register comprehensive 8-wicket win over Knight Riders

Taking first use of the wicket at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, KKR were restricted to 148 for five with the Mumbai Indians romping home in a canter with 19 balls to spare.

KKR were struggling at one stage before Morgan and Pat Cummins rescued them with an unbeaten 87-run stand, which gave some respectability to their total.

"With the bat, we made a few mistakes, I thought Mumbai Indians bowled really well and they proved why they've been one of the form teams in this year's tournament," morgan added.

While lauding Karthik for his decision to step down Morgan said the leadership handover will be a smooth transition.

"I think within a team of leaders, given that Dinesh and me were titled leaders in terms of being the captain and vice-captain, I think there'll be a smooth transition from here. It took a lot of courage for DK and a lot of selflessness from him to come ahead and recognise within himself that he needed to focus on his batting for the remainder of the tournament," added Morgan whose team takes on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the next match at the same venue in a day game on Sunday (October 18).