Two-time champions of Indian Premier League (IPL), Kolkata Knight Riders will see a change of skipper as the management revealed that Dinesh Karthik who is currently leading the team has opted to hand over the role to English captain Eoin Morgan for remaining matches. Karthik, who hasn’t had the impressive season with the bat by just scoring 108 runs from seven matches with just one half-century, made the call with an objective to effort on his batting.

“Dinesh Karthik has informed the KKR management that with a view to focusing on his batting and contributing more to the team’s cause, he wished to handover the captaincy to Eoin Morgan,” KKR said in a statement.

"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," said Venky Mysore, CEO of KKR.

"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," he added.

The wicket-keeper batsman was appointed skipper of Kolkata ahead of the 2018 season of the IPL, replacing the side’s long-standing captain Gautam Gambhir, who joined the Delhi Capitals (then Daredevils) after the club elected not to retain him.

(With inputs from IANS)