The mini auction for IPL 2023 has been done. All the ten franchises have finalised their squad for the upcoming season of IPL. The teams have build up their squad from scratch because it was a mega auction. In this article, we will talk about the runner up of last season. Kolkata Knight Riders Team Analysis and Updates.
KKR IPL 2023 Auction Review
They retained Andre Russell (₹12 crore), Venkatesh Iyer (₹8 crore), Varun Chakravarthy (₹8 crore), and Sunil Narine (₹6 crore) ahead of the auction.
In the early phase of IPL 2022 Mega Auction, KKR displayed themselves as the most aggressive team. They showed too much hastiness in buying the likes of Pat Cummins (₹7.25 crore), Nitish Rana (₹8 crore), and Shreyas Iyer (₹12.25 crore).
KKR actions at the mega auction were not justified at all. Their major purse amount exhausted early in purchasing three big players i.e. Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana and Pat Cummins. These three cost them a total of 27.5 crores. Purchasing Iyer for such a big amount is understandable because they were in need of an Indian captain. But adding Nitish Rana in the middle order before Iyer at such a big price was not justified. This restricted them to bid for more valuable players.
In the IPL 2023 mini auction, Kolkata Knight Riders bought the following players:-
- N. Jagadeesan (INR 90 lakh)
- Vaibhav Arora (INR 60 lakh)
- Suyash Sharma (INR 20 lakh)
- David Wiese (INR 1 crore)
- Kulwant Khejroliya (INR 20 lakh)
- Litton Das (INR 50 lakh)
- Mandeep Singh (INR 50 lakh)
- Shakib Al Hasan (INR 1.5 crore)
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 : Kolkata Knight Riders Team Analysis
There are many unfavorable things in the squad of KKR but at last they will manage to put together a competitive playing 11 with the available squad. Again, they have to think a lot in the management of four overseas players in their line-up.
KKR 2023 Squad : Batsmen
There is a shortness of quality Indian batsman in the team. Shreyas Iyer is the only big batsman in the playing 11. The team bought a few Indian domestic batters but they are not up to the mark. At last they also bought veteran Ajinkya Rahane who is very unlikely to make the first-choice XI. The major problem in the batting section is strike rate. Except Shreyas Iyer, the rest of the batsmen take time to settle.
KKR 2023 Squad : Wicketkeepers
KKR didn’t even have a wicketkeeper until the end of the auction. At the last moment, they bought Sam Billings and Alex Hales in a hurry. The main concern among the too many concerns is the obvious lack of a solid first-choice wicketkeeper. This problem will lead to other issues for the management. There is a limit on overseas players in the playing XI. Therefore, Billings can only step in place of another foreigner. Apart from him, the Indian wicketkeeping options are below average.
KKR 2023 Squad : All-Rounders
This is the strongest region for Kolkata Knight Riders. With the availability of Venketesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Shardul Thakur, KKR is excellent at this section.
Star all rounder Pat Cummins has decided to not take part in IPL 2023. KKR brought in Shakib Al Hasan and Shardul Thakur in their plans for the upcoming season.
KKR 2023 Squad : Bowlers
The responsibility of bowling section will be on the shoulders of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. There is a visible lack of good Indian fast bowlers in the squad. KKR have bought Lockie Ferguson to strengthen their fast bowling attack. The New Zealand fast bowler played a crucial part for Gujarat Titans in the last season.
KKR IPL 2023 Team Review
Kolkata Knight Riders have invested heavily in all-rounders but didn’t pay much attention in the batting department.
KKR Playing 11 2023 (Probable XI)
- Venkatesh Iyer
- N. Jagadeesan
- Shreyas Iyer (C)
- Nitish Rana
- Sam Billings (wk)
- Andre Russell
- Shardul Thakur
- Sunil Narine
- Lockie Ferguson
- Varun Chakravarthy
- Umesh Yadav.
IPL 2023 : A look at KKR’s possible playing XI after Mega Auction
