IPL 2018 – Kolkata Knight Riders Team Preview

Captain: Dinesh Karthik.

Coach: Jacques Kallis.

Home Ground: Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

IPL 2017 Result: 3rd in points table.

Best Result: Winners in 2012, 2014.

Released: Gautam Gambhir, Trent Boult, Darren Bravo, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rishi Dhawan, S Ghosh, Sheldon Jackson, Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Rovman Powell, A Rajpoot, Sanjay Yadav, Shakib al Hasan, Chris Woakes, Suryakumar Yadav, Umesh Yadav.

Purchased: ~~Mitchell Starc~~, Dinesh Karthik, Mitchell Johnson, Shubman Gill, ~~Kamlesh Nagarkoti~~, Nitish Rana, Vinay Kumar, Apoorv Wankhade, Rinku Singh, Shivam Mavi, Cameron Delport, Javon Searles, Tom Curran.

Kolkata Knight Riders is one such team whose chances of winning an IPL trophy can never be ruled out. They are one of only three teams who have won the title twice and with their current squad strength, I won’t be surprised if they do it the third time in IPL 2018. They have the perfect balance of good batsmen, hard-hitting all-rounders and wicket-taking bowlers.

While most teams went in and retained their Indian stars, Kolkata did the opposite by releasing their captain Gautam Gambhir, who led them to two titles, and going on to retain Windies stars Sunil Narine and Andre Russell. As if these two all-rounders and strike bowlers were not enough, they went on to sign Mitchell Starc at the IPL 2018 auction. However, he has now been replaced by England’s Tom Curran, due to an injury. The young U-19 star Kamlesh Nagarkoti was injured and replaced by Prasidh Krishna.

The elder Mitchell (Johnson) has also been signed by the team, and the bowling seems to be in good hands, while Robin Uthappa will continue to provide consistency at the top of the order. They also signed youngster Shubman Gill who was Man of the Series at the recent U-19 World Cup that India won. Will the flamboyant boy find a regular place in the 11? Player who is there for his place – Nitish Rana.

They named Dinesh Karthik as their new captain, after paying a bomb of Rs. 7.8 crore for him, and I believe this is the best move by KKR. Karthik has been scoring consistently and also recently played a gem of an innings to take India home in the Nidahas Cup final in Sri Lanka. 15 years after his international debut, it finally looks like DK’s time to shine has arrived.

Kolkata Knight Riders Squad for IPL 2018:

Dinesh Karthik (c), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Tom Curran, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Mitchell Johnson, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubman Gill, Ishank Jaggi, ~~Mitchell Starc~~, ~~Kamlesh Nagarkoti~~, Nitish Rana, Vinay Kumar, Apoorv Wankhade, Rinku Singh, Shivam Mavi, Cameron Delport, Javon Searles, Prasidh Krishna.

This team will heavily rely on their overseas talent this year. Russell and Narine will be vital if they want to succeed this year, while the x-factor player will be Australia’s Chris Lynn. Lynn has proved his batting prowess in T20 leagues all over the world, and there’s no one more destructive than him on his day. However, KKR will hope he can go a full season without injuring himself 😛

Kolkata Knight Riders Squad for IPL 2018:

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