IPL 2023 : A look at KKR’s possible playing XI after Mega Auction

Finally, the much-awaited IPL 2023 auction was held in Kochi and all the teams build up their squad ahead of the next season. Now fans are just thinking about the best possible combinations for their favourite team’s playing XI. Fans of KKR will be happy as they have got their new captain in Shreyas Iyer. Besides retaining Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer and Sunil Narine, Kolkata Knight Riders have made promising some promising signings. The two times title winner and last season runners-up KKR build a core youngster group alongside some experienced players ahead of the 2022 season. Here’s the likely KKR Playing XI at IPL 2023.

KKR IPL 2023 Squad

Wicketkeepers: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (AFG), N. Jagadeesan, Litton Das (BAN).

Batters: Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Mandeep Singh.

All-rounders: Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Andre Russel (WI), Shardul Thakur, Shakib Al Hasan (BAN), David Wiese (NAM).

Bowlers: Lockie Ferguson (NZ), Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine (WI), Tim Southee (NZ), Varun Chakravarthy, Umesh Yadav, Suyash Sharma, Vaibhav Arora, Kulwant Khejroliya.

 IPL 2023 : KKR’s possible playing XI

1. N. Jagadeesan – KKR bought this English hard hitter opener with just 1.50 crore and undoubtedly this is one of the great deals for KKR this year. Hales has an amazing ability to run the scoreboard quickly as he played with a strike rate of 130 but shockingly he did not get many opportunities to show off his ability but we can hope that KKR gives him this platform this season. In just 6 appearances in the Indian Premier League, he scored 148 runs with the highest score of 45.
2. Venkatesh Iyer – Undoubtedly Venketesh Iyer is a special talent for this team. He was picked up KKR last season but did not get a chance to play in the first leg of the season but in the second leg, he appropriately used the opportunity as he scored 370 runs with a strike rate of 128.98 in just 10 matches. This left-handed all-rounder also can bowl at any stage of the match and his slow deliveries in the slog overs are much more effective. This all-rounder already made his debut in the national team where team management decided to groom him as a lower-middle-order batsman more precisely as a finisher. We can hope that he can keep this form throughout the season this year.

   

3. Nitish Rana – Nitish Rana has been a part of this franchise a long time and also played some match-winning knocks as team management kept trust in him and bought back him ahead of the next season. Nitish Rana smashed 383 runs in just 17 matches and overall in his IPL career he scored 1820 runs in just 77 appearances with a strike rate of 132.45.

   

4. Shreyas Iyer – The former Delhi Capitals’ skipper is the biggest name in this team and the team management already confirmed that he will lead the team this season. As a captain, he was brilliant as we have witnessed DC reaching the knockout stage in the 2018 season and final in 2020 under his captaincy. It will be interesting to see how Iyer leads this team. Not only the captain, but he is also a brilliant strike hitter. He missed the first leg of the season last year due to his injury but in the second leg, he scored 175 runs in just 8 games. In his IPL career, he scored 2375 runs in just 87 appearances.

   

5. Sam Billings (wicket-keeper)- KKR bought only two wicketkeeper batsmen- Sheldon Jackson and Sam Billings but there is a high chance that the team will be grounded along with the English batsman to keep the team balance. Jackson was also the part of KKR but could not manage to make a spot in playing XI as Dinesh Karthik was their main wicketkeeper batsman.
6. Andre Russell – Rusell is mostly famous for his stormy batting and he has been part of this team since the year 2012. Last two seasons he couldn’t perform well but the 2019 season was tremendous for him as he scored 510 runs in just 14 matches with a strike rate of 204.45. He can also bowl and with the ball, he dismissed batsmen 74 times in his 84 appearances. Rusell is a big match-winner of any team.

   

7. Shardul Thakur – As we mentioned previously that this year KKR makes a core group of youngsters who are the future for this franchise and Thakur is one of them. He was part of Delhi Capitals last season. Shardul is mainly a bowling all-rounder but sometimes he was promoted in the top order for accelerating the scoreboard in domestic cricket.

   
8. Sunil Narine – Sunil Narine is the only player in this franchise who has been playing for KKR for a decade and from the first season, he is a man winner for his team with the ball as well as with his willow. He scored 952 runs in just 132 matches with a strike rate of 162.18 and with the ball he picked up a total of 141 wickets with an economy of 6.74.

   

9.  Lockie Ferguson – The New Zealand fast bowler will be the automatic choice for the team. The management kept trust in him and bought back him from the auction table this year. He played well throughout the season and was a crucial part in Gujarat’s winning campaign. His performance in WT20 was really impressive. His main strength is that he can swing the ball in both directions with a speed of 140+ kmph continuously.

   

10. Shivam Mavi – Shivam Mavi was one of the top performers for India in the 2018 U-19 world cup as the same year KKR picked him from the auction table and this year the management decided to bring back him again. Presently he is in top form in domestic cricket and his main strength is his speed. In his IPL career, he picked up 25 wickets in 26 matches with an economy of 8.29.

    

11. Varun Chakravarthy – Varun Chakravarthy becomes a sensation from the year 2020 for his special delivery and is popular among the world as “Mystery Spinner”. He also got a chance in the WT20 but somehow he did not perform as we expected. He is one of the regular players for KKR from the 2020 season and in his IPL career he picked up 26 wickets in his 25 matches with an amazing economy of 6.82.