KKR team review by IPLSN
The biggest threat successful teams like KKR and MI face is that most of the teams go after their players. This makes getting the old core back difficult. So teams have to let go some of the key players.
kkr-team-and-price

The biggest threat successful teams like KKR and MI face is that most of the teams go after their players. This makes getting the old core back difficult. So teams have to let go some of the key players. While Mumbai Indians managed to form a squad of 25 players, Kolkata Knight Riders manged to get only 19 player and spending their total budget.

KKR tried to get back their core players or at-least similar players. The problem here is that the players which KKR bought in 2014 or later, have grown highly in value. For Example, KKR bought Manish Pandey at Rs.1.7 Crore in 2014 while he was sold at Rs. 11 Crore to SRH in 2018. Chris Lynn was bought at Rs. 1.3 Crore in 2014 while he went for Rs. 9.6 Crore in 2018. Or like Andre Russell was bought at Rs. 60 Lakh in 2014 while retained at Rs. 8.5 Crore.

I made a list of players who were a part of KKR previously or have been bought by KKR in at a higher price:

Unlike MI, KKR didn’t compromise here. They scouted inexpensive talents in Manish Pandey, Chris Lynn, Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav and Andre Russell in 2014. But this time they went after popular players. Only Apoorv Wankhede, Ishank Jaggi and Rinku Singh are the inexpensive uncapped players this time. Though they have scored some great innings among various domestic tournaments.

They could’ve compromised here and there. For example, it’s clear that Kuldeep and Narine will be leading spinners so why did they spend so much on Piyush. It’s not like they would be playing with 3 spinners for most of the matches. They could’ve got Harbhajan Singh or Shahbaz Nadeem. They have given great spell in the domestic league and would’ve been cheaper.

They have ambitiously invested in the talented U-19 players. Shubhman Gill is a very talented batsman. Both Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi have a bright future too, but buying both the young pacers instead of an experienced bowler like Shardul Thakur or Umesh Yadav is a big gamble.

I was surprised they didn’t save an RTM for Surya Yadav as he is in great form recently and was named as KKR’s vice-captain in the previous season.

The squad is thin and has quite some injury-prone players. But the XI looks quite indomitable. For KKR to succeed, their players must not get easily injured, their uncapped players must deliver and most important of all, have a strong leader.

The XI:

  1. Chris Lynn
  2. Sunil Narine
  3. Shubhman Gill
  4. Robin Uthappa
  5. Dinesh Karthik
  6. Nitish Rana
  7. Andre Russell
  8. *Vacant*
  9. Kuldeep Yadav
  10. Mitchell Starc
  11. Kamlesh Nagarkoti / Vinay Kumar

No. 7 depends upon the situation. I

It can be Ishank Jaggi if extra batsman is required.

It can be Shivam Mavi if extra pacer is required.

It can be Piyush Chawala if extra spinner is required.

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