Name: Kolkata Knight Riders- Captain: Dinesh Karthik
- Head Coach: Brendon McCullum
- Home Ground: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
- Squad members: 23
- Best result: Champions in IPL 2012, 2014
Kolkata Knight Riders retained 14 of their squad members going into IPL 2020 and they purchased a further 9 players at the IPL 2020 Auction, so they’ve made quite a few changes to their side. A part of their retention list were 4 overseas players including Harry Gurney, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Lockie Ferguson. We may be unsure of team combinations but one thing we’re sure of, there’s no keeping the Caribbean duo of Russell and Narine out of this squad!
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Over the last few years, Narine has worked brilliantly at the top of the batting order, which has helped make up for his decline in the number of wickets in recent years. However, he’ll be looking to prove himself once again in IPL 2020 after a poor season which saw him get only 143 runs and 10 wickets last year, compared to 340+ runs and 17 wickets in IPL 2018. And of course, Andre Russell needs no introduction – 510 runs in IPL 2019 at a strike rate of 200+!
They’ll be hoping Russell maintains his fitness through the season as they don’t have any other overseas all-rounders to fill his boots. On the batting front, they made the mistake of dropping Chris Lynn from their squad and there’s a chance of either Englishman Tom Banton or Eoin Morgan to fill that role. Because of his experience, Morgan will have the edge but my instinct tells me that both will not be a part of the best eleven.
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Why, you ask? The Knight Riders have 4 overseas bowlers in Pat Cummins, Harry Gurney, Lockie Ferguson and Chris Green. Considering they paid a record IPL fee of Rs.15.5 Crore for Pat Cummins at the IPL 2020 auction, he is surely not going to be left out which makes 3 overseas picks now. T20 specialist Harry Gurney may take that final slot because of his experience and with the bat, Shubman Gill is expected to open for KKR.
Gill may come out to bat with Narine and if the Narine experiment doesn’t work, KKR may have an Indian pair of openers after ages. Former Rajasthan and Pune player Rahul Tripathi may get a chance to make his KKR debut at the top of the order, or Siddhesh Lad is a talented Mumbai boy who has been in the MI squad for years, having got just one opportunity till date. This could very well be his best IPL season yet!
Again, they’ll be reliant on local talent for the middle order in Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Dinesh Karthik and others. After a poor performance in the last season, Rinku may find it difficult to get a place in the side but we’re excited to see DK take the captaincy role again! For years, he’s been underrated as a cricketer and wicket-keeper and it’s his time to shine. He had 253 runs in IPL 2019 and will want to improve those numbers.
We might see a lot of more attacking cricket for the boys in purple as Brendon McCullum takes over as coach, one of the most destructive IPL batsmen ever. He’s played for KKR in the past and is only recently retired from the game, so he’ll gel well with the squad. 48-year old Pravin Tambe is the oldest player in the league but it’s unlikely he gets a game. Narine and Kuldeep are the main spinners while Varun Chakravarthy and Chris Green are also back-up.
KKR has a solid pace bowling attack which they haven’t had over the years and it’s unlikely they play more than 2 specialist spinners. They’ve got Ferguson, Cummins, Gurney as well as super quick and exciting Indian pacers in Shivam Mavi, Sandeep Warrier, Prasidh Krishna and Kamlesh Nagarkoti. Prasidh had only 4 wickets in 11 games in IPL 2019 but he’s expected to be a part of the pace bowling attack again.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS SQUAD FOR IPL 2020: Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Rinku Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Harry Gurney, Shubman Gill, Siddhesh Lad, Pat Cummins, Eoin Morgan, Varun Chakravarthy, Tom Banton, Rahul Tripathi, Chris Green, M Siddharth, Pravin Tambe, Sunil Narine, Nikhil Naik.
Overall, this is a well-balanced side and like they do every year, they begin IPL 2020 as one of the pre-tournament favourites once again. Dr. Russ is like a nuclear weapon and every team will have plans for him after his outstanding season last year. The captain and coach also have a lot to prove to everyone and for you can stay tuned to ReadScoops.com for all updates on KKR’s IPL 2020 campaign…
