5 Players Kolkata Knight Riders Might Retain for IPL 2018

Ever since Gautam Gambhir took over the responsibility of Kolkata Knight Riders, it has been going from strength to strength in the Indian Premier League and has already won a couple of IPL titles. Even last year, KKR were within touching distance of reaching the final but failed at the final hurdle.

KKR have produced some exceptional quality of cricket in the past few years, and there have been individual players who have been with the team for some years.

So with the next auction still a couple of months away, let us have a look at five possible players whom KKR might retain for the next season of the tournament

Sunil Narine

Narine might well be the No 1 in the list among players whom Kolkata want to retain for the next season. Narine has been a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders set up for a long time now. He tends to control the game with the ball in hand in the middle overs and remains the most economical bowler in the tournament.

In the previous year, he also made a mark with the bat and got KKR off to flying starts opening the batting. He also scored the fastest half-century of the tournament against Royal Challengers Bangalore which came in a mere 15 deliveries. ‘

Chris Lynn

The powerful striker of the ball was unlucky in the previous tournament as he got injured only after his opening clash and made a return only during the finishing stages of the tournament. He set the tournament ablaze with sensational innings of 93 against the Gujarat Lions which set the tempo for the rest of the tournament.

Lynn can decimate any bowling attack on his given day which was quite evident during the previous year of the competition. He is a bit injury prone which won’t go in his favour, but given his exceptional hard-hitting abilities, he is expected to be retained.

Gautam Gambhir

He will be the first in the list to be retained by the two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders. Ever since taking charge of KKR, Gambhir has been an inspiration captain and has also been a prolific run scorer for his franchise at the top of the order. The southpaw played a match-winning knock in the eliminator clash of the previous encounter and ensured KKR reached the Qualifiers 2 before falling at the final hurdle.

He has been a champion batsman and has handled his troops exceptionally well over the years. It was his harsh words which prompted the KKR unit to come up with an inspired performance last year when they skittled out Royal Challengers Bangalore for a mere 49 runs during a group game.

Robin Uthappa

Uthappa is yet another impact player which the two-time champions wouldn’t like to lose. He was one of the prolific run scorers for the two-time winners in the previous edition. He also plays the role of a wicket-keeper and on his day can make any bowling line-up look clueless. He is a clean striker of the ball and can score at a brisk pace.

He is a veteran of the domestic circuit and has a huge array of shots up his sleeve. The KKR team management will look to retain the out of favour Indian batsmen as he can strike clean.

Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep recently became only the 2^nd Indian bowler to bag an ODI hat-trick very recently. It was against Australia when the left-arm chinaman bowler made the Australian batsmen dance to his tune. He bagged the wickets of Matthew Wade, Ashton Agar and Pat Cummins to complete his hat-trick.

The youngster made a mark during the Champions League a couple of years ago, and it was after that year he started getting picked for KKR on a consistent basis. Chinaman bowling is a rare art, and the team management must manage his workload as the youngster is a prospect for the future. He tends to leak runs on occasions, but he is a wicket taker who can dismantle any batting line-up.