Sunil Narine was retained by Kolkata Knight Riders. (Express Archive)
Kolkata Knight Riders will enter IPL 2018 tournament with the lightest squad with only 19 players in their side. The biggest change, this year, is perhaps the fact that Gautam Gambhir, who led the franchise as captain to title victories, will not be part of the squad. Kolkata have invested a lot on young uncapped talent, with India U-19 stars Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi making their way to the franchise. Nagarkoti and Mavi impressed with their speeds in the ongoing U-19 World Cup and were bought by KKR for Rs 3.6 crore and Rs 3 crore respectively. Apart from the two speedsters, KKR also bought U-19 top-order batsman Shubman Gill who scored three fifties in four matches at the U-19 World Cup. The franchise spent Rs 1.8 crore to buy his services for the upcoming season.
Strength: The strength in the squad, once again, lies in the spin bowling department. KKR did a smart move retaining West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine, who became one of the key figures in the Gambhir era. Narine has an uncanny ability to take wickets in crucial moments and he can also slow down the run-rate when required. In 82 matches, Narine has taken 95 wickets at an average of 21.38 with an economy rate of 6.33, which makes him one of the best bowlers in the tournament. Apart from Narine, KKR also retained Piyush Chawla and Kuldeep Yadav via Right-to-Match which will further add to their spin bowling arsenal. Yadav took 6 wickets in 3 T20I against Sri Lanka last month and has become a regular customer for the Indian side in the format.
Smart buy: KKR went all out for the explosive Australian batsman Chris Lynn. With the side retaining two overseas players, they did not have the option to use a RTM card on him. But that did not stop them from bidding on him and battling it out with other franchises to retain his services. KKR bought Lynn for Rs 9.6 crore and he can be a one-man army for the side. In him, the side gets the perfect player who can open the innings for them and take the match away from the bowlers by smashing sixes at will. In 12 IPL matches, Lynn has scored 284 runs at an average of 38.4. His strike rate of 158.02 makes him a dangerous batsman for the opposition every time he comes in the middle.
Weakness: After Gambhir’s departure, Kolkata Knight Riders should have looked for a player who can lead the side as captain. But it is one gap which KKR failed to fill, and they do not have any leadership figure in the squad. KKR also have the weakest bench strength, having only 19 players in the squad, and with a long tournament in hand, a weak bench strength might cause troubles for them. Even if one or two players pick up an injury, the side will find it hard to find replacements in the bench.
Squad: Andre Russell (Retained), Sunil Narine (Retained), Mitchell Starc (Rs 9.4 crore), Chris Lynn (Rs 9.6 crore), Dinesh Karthik (Rs 7.4 crore), Robin Uthappa (Rs 6.4 crore Retained via RTM), Piyush Chawla (Rs 4.2 crore Retained via RTM), Kuldeep Yadav (Rs 4.8 crore Retained via RTM), Shubman Gill (Rs 1.8 crore), Ishank Jaggi (Rs 20 lakh), Kamlesh Nagarkoti (Rs 3.2 crore), Nitish Rana (Rs 3.4 crore), Vinay Kumar (Rs 1 crore), Apoorv Wankhade (Rs 20 lakh), Rinku Singh (Rs 80 lakh), Shivam Mavi (Rs 3 crore), Cameron Delport (Rs 30 lakh), Mitchell Johnson (Rs 2 crore), Javon Searless (Rs 30 Lakh)
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