IPL 2019: Likely Playing XI of Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had retained their core group of players before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 Auction which took place on December 18 (Tuesday) at Jaipur.

Meanwhile, Kolkata had a decent outing in the last season of the league finishing third in the league. Kolkata, let go of their skipper Gautam Gambhir prior to the last edition. However, it didn’t affect them much as Dinesh Karthik did an exceptional job with the team. He led a young bunch of players from the front taking the team to the qualifiers on his own shoulders. However, their season ended with a loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the second qualifier.

Coming to the auction, Kolkata Knight Riders released Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson, who had a very little role to play. Along with him, they released another Aussie pacer Mitchell Starc, who missed the whole season due to injury. They also decided to do away with the Indian pacer Vinay Kumar who too failed to perform for the franchise last season.

In replacement, Kolkata Knight Riders bought a total of eight players at the IPL Auction 2019 including Windies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite for Rs 5 crore, New Zealand’s express pacer Lockie Ferguson for Rs 1.60 crore and England batsman Joe Denly for Rs 1 crore. Along with the internationally acclaimed stars, they also roped in some young Indian uncapped players.

Brathwaite will add strength to the Kolkata-based franchise with his abilities to contribute in both the departments. Lockie Ferguson will also bolster their bowling attack which is mostly dependent on spinners. With the squad well settled, Kolkata Knight Riders will go all out to for their third IPL title.

The Dinesh Karthik-led side have their opening combination settled in the makeshift opener, Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn. They also have a packed middle-order in Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana and Dinesh Karthik backed by all-rounders, Andre Russell, and Carlos Brathwaite. They over the years have depended on their spinners and this season it will be no different.

With the teams already settled, Kolkata Knight Riders will strive for their third title in the upcoming season of the IPL 2019.

Here is Kolkata Knight Riders’ likely eleven for the upcoming season:

Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Carlos Brathwaite, Lockie Ferguson, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna.