Ahead of the IPL 2020 auction, two-time Indian Premier League champion Kolkata Knight Riders has a fresh set of coaching staff headed by former player Brendon McCullum, and has released premier batsmen Robin Uthappa and Chris Lynn along with other seasoned campaigners (Piyush Chawla, Carlos Brathwaite, to name a couple).
KKR has the second-highest purse left with Rs 35.65 crore and a maximum of 11 slots, four of them overseas, to fill.
Lynn had been KKR’s opening batsman for the last three seasons and his partnership with West Indies off-break bowler Sunil Narine had been quite successful. With Uthappa, who was the designated No. 3, also released, the Kolkata-based franchise needs reinforcements in the batting department despite having traded Siddesh Lad from Mumbai Indians.
The bowling appears settled with Narine himself a premier spinner alongside India’s left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav. The seam-bowling department will be spearheaded by Karnataka’s Prasidh Krishna and comprises New Zealand’s Lockie Ferguson, English left-arm seamer Harry Gurney, Kerala seamer Sandeep Warrier and two of India’s under-19 World Cup-winning players (Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi), who are expected to be fit for the upcoming season.
However, having released Chawla, KKR might want to add another spin bowler to its squad.
List of retained players
Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubman Gill, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Harry Gurney, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi
List of released players
Chris Lynn, Carlos Brathwaite, Robin Uthappa, Piyush Chawla, Nikhil Naik, KC Cariappa, Joe Denly, Srikant Munde, Yarra Prithviraj, Anrich Nortje
Slots left: 11 (seven domestic, four overseas)
Purse remaining: Rs 35.65 Crore
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