IPL Auction: Venkatesh Iyer returns to KKR at a whopping Rs 23.75 crore. (BCCI)
It was another auction where Kolkata Knight Riders had to patiently wait to get players who can play support cast to their retained players. As usual, they continued their habit of going big on one player – Venkatesh Iyer being the case this time. It appeared a case of overspending, but KKR have never shied away from doing so. It meant they had to settle for players who didn’t fetch interest from other franchises. But in terms of the big picture it won’t matter much as nine from their squad who won the title are guaranteed starters this time as well.
Batsmen
Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Luvnith Sisodia, Ajinkya Rahane.
Wicketkeepers
Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz
All-rounders
Venkatesh Iyer (pace), Andre Russell (pace), Sunil Narine (spin), Ramandeep Singh (pace), Anukul Roy (spin), Moeen Ali (spin).
Spinners
Varun Chakravarthy, Mayank Markande.
Fast bowlers
Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Anrich Nortje, Spencer Johnson, Umran Malik.
First impression
Having retained already six players, they managed to get back Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer at the auction. In Manish Pandey, Ajinkya Rahane they also have players who are familiar with the set-up. Going into a new season, their XII will largely be the same as last season. Instead of Mitchell Starc, they have added Anrich Nortje and there is Spencer Johnson as a back-up option. Even in the domestic pace front in Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora and Umran Malik they have ones who could make a difference. With Varun Chakrvarthy and Sunil Narine being lead spinners, they have added Mayank Markande, Moeen Ali and Anukul Roy for variety. The only key concern is Quinton de Kock and Nortje may not be a real upgrade in terms of Phil Salt and Starc, but it is the price they paid for spending Rs 23 crore on Venkatesh. With Shreyas Iyer not around, they are without a captain, and may have to rely on Venkatesh or Rinku.
Area of concern
Absence of a ready-made captain. May be they are being trendsetters here as well in the sense, believe a captain is overrated in T20s.
Playing XII
1 Sunil Narine, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Angkrish Raghuvanshi, 4 Venkatesh Iyer, 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Ramandeep Singh, 8 Harshit Rana, 9 Varun Chakravarthy, 10 Vaibhav Arora, 11 Anrich Nortje, 12 Manish Pandey/Ajinkya Rahane.
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