Dinesh Karthik steps down as KKR captain, Morgan takes charge
Abu Dhabi: Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik on Friday stepped down as captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders team, handing over the reins to his English deputy Eoin Morgan hours before the IPL match against Mumbai Indians here.
Karthik told the KKR management that he wants to "focus on his batting and contributing more to the team's cause." Appointed skipper in 2018, the 35-year-old led KKR in 37 matches.
"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 take a decision such as this," team CEO Venky Mysore said in a statement.
"While we were surprised by his decision, we are respectful of his wishes."
Midway into the ongoing season, KKR find themselves at fourth place in the points table with four wins and three losses. Morgan was widely tipped to take over at some point from Karthik given the topsy-turvy run.
"...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," Mysore said.
"On behalf of everyone at Kolkata Knight Riders, we thank DK for all his contributions as the captain over the past two and a half years and wish Eoin the very best going forward."
Even though Mysore termed Karthik's decision surprising, the move was always on the cards with a World Cup-winning captain in the mix.
The veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batsman's captaincy had come under intense criticism due to the team's erratic campaign so far.
If KKR has won four games so far, it could well have been half as they had two miraculous escapes against Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab, matches where it was more about opposition losing than KKR winning.
Insult to injury was mystery spinner Sunil Narine being reported again for a suspect action. He has not been included in the side ever since the umpires raised objection to his action.
Karthik's own battig has been pretty scratchy save the half-century against Kings XI Punjab which also got him the man-of-the match award.
Strategically, he hasn't been at his best like the match against Delhi Capitals at Sharjah where he promoted himself ahead of Morgan, who is a bigger match-winner currently and also nearly got the team home.
Also not playing a quality spinner like Kuldeep Yadav on a slow Sharjah track did raise a few question marks.
His backing of young pacers Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti, two bowlers with same kind of variations, instead of a Prasidh Krishna, who was brilliant at the death agaimst KXIP, didn't speak too well of his flexibility in leadership approach.
In fact, during the last season where KKR missed the play-offs by a whisker, their Caribbean all-rounder Andre Russell had publicly criticised Karthik for sending him lower down the order with so much to do and very few deliveries left.
Russell hit an astounding 52 sixes in the last edition which went in vain. This year, the West Indian was promoted up the order but hasn't been able to replicate his form from last season.
While batsman Karthik with all his experience will still be an automatic choice as a playing member, Morgan, with calmness and better match-reading qualities, may bring in the consistency that the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise so desperately needs.
The England captain, in a recent interview to PTI, had said that "one doesn't need to be a captain in order to be a leader". In fact, he normally stands at long-on and long-off and is seen constantly talking to the bowlers and helping them with field placements.
For Karthik, a major problem was constant comparisons with double IPL winning former skipper Gautam Gambhir, who was removed in 2018 after Karthik played that epic 8-ball-29 at the Nidahas Trophy.
The first season wasn't bad as he took the team to play-offs but the performance has tapered off since last season.
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India harbouring big and bold dreams in space sector: Shubhanshu Shukla
Kolkata (PTI): Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to go to the International Space Station, on Wednesday said the country is harbouring “big and bold dreams”, foraying into human spaceflight after a hiatus of 41 years.
Shukla was the first Indian to visit the International Space Station as part of the Axiom-4 mission. He returned to India from the US on August 17, 2025, after the 18-day mission.
The space is a “great place to be”, marked by deep peace and an “amazing view” that becomes more captivating with time, he said, interacting with schoolchildren at an event organised by the Indian Centre for Space Physics here.
“The longer you stay, the more you enjoy it,” Shukla said, adding on a lighter note that he “actually kind of did not want to come back”.
Shukla said the hands-on experience in space was very different from what he had learnt during training.
He said the future of India’s space science was “very bright”, with the country harbouring “very big and bold dreams”.
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Shukla described his ISS flight, undertaken with support from the US, as a crucial “stepping stone” towards realising India’s ‘Vision Gaganyaan’.
“The experience gained is a national asset. It is already being used by internal committees and design teams to ensure ongoing missions are on the right track,” he said.
Shukla said the country’s space ambitions include the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme, the Bharatiya Station (India’s own space station), and eventually a human landing on the Moon.
While the Moon mission is targeted for 2040, he said these projects are already in the pipeline, and the field will evolve at a “very rapid pace” over the next 10-20 years.
He told the students that though these targets are challenging, they are “achievable by people like you”, urging them to take ownership of India’s aspirations.
The sector will generate “a lot of employment opportunities” as India expands its human spaceflight capabilities, he noted.
Echoing the iconic words of India’s first astronaut Rakesh Sharma, Shukla said that from orbit, “India is still the best in the world”.
Shukla also asserted that the achievement was not his alone, but that of the entire country.
“The youth of India are extremely talented. They must stay focused, remain curious and work hard. It is their responsibility to help build a developed India by 2047,” he said.
Highlighting a shift from Sharma’s era, Shukla said India is now developing a full-fledged astronaut ecosystem.
With Gaganyaan and future missions, children in India will be able to not only dream of becoming astronauts, but also achieving it within the country, he said.
“Space missions help a village kid believe he can go to space someday. When you send one person to space, you lift million hopes. That is why such programmes must continue... The sky is not the limit,” Shukla said.
“Scientists must prepare for systems that will last 20-30 years, while ensuring they can integrate technologies that will emerge a decade from now,” he said.
Shukla added that he looked forward to more space missions, and was keen to undertake a space walk, which will require him to "train for another two years".
