IPL 2021: Kolkata Knight Riders – Eoin Morgan’s leadership skills have come to be widely recognized in the cricket world. He would need to bring those skills to great use when KKR begin their campaign in the new season of IPL. He has some great assets in his squad.
Pat Cummins is widely regarded as the best fast bowler in world today. Though he may be more effective in the longest format, even in T20s, he is very valuable. For some extra pace, Lockie Ferguson of New Zealand can be brought in. Ben Cutting has emerged as a very useful seamer in this format and has achieved success in the Big Bash League.
KKR can also choose to place their faith in youth by bringing in two unheralded stars of the 2018 Under-19 World Cup – Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti. Both these bowlers have oodles of potential but are yet to deliver on the big stage.
Indian spin legend Harbhajan Singh is now on the rolls of KKR. However, there are questions about his capabilities at this advanced stage of his career. Things are different with Kuldeep Yadav. His age is fine but lack of success in recent times would put him under pressure. Varun Chakravarthy may be the most reliable option.
The batting front is led by Morgan himself. But he doesn’t have too many big names to support him. Dinesh Karthik’s international career may be over but his T20 career certainly has some distance to go.
The blue-eyed boy of Indian cricket Shubman Gill is now well-known around the world. Much would be expected of him. Same is the case with Andre Russell. His big-hitting prowess can dent the bowlers’ confidence greatly.
The role of Sunil Narine would be interesting. The experiment to open with him hasn’t worked and his bowling isn’t what it used to be. This season could be make or break for him.
Eoin Morgan (C), Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Pat Cummins, Rahul Tripathi, Sandeep Warrier, Rinku Singh, Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Tim Seifert, Varun Chakravarthy, Shakib Al Hasan, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Karun Nair, Harbhajan Singh, Ben Cutting, Pawan Negi, Venkatesh Iyer
IPL 2021: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Stats
IPL Titles: 2
Runners-up: 0
Total Matches: 196, Won: 99, Lost: 93, NR: 4, Tie: 0