IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has retained Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer and Varun Chakravarthy for IPL 2022.
The IPL 2022 retention list is out with most of the teams having retained four players, which was the maximum limit set by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The IPL 2022 will see the addition of two new franchises (from Ahmedabad and Lucknow). The majority of players will go under the hammer which brings another grand auction in the cash-rich league, just like the one in IPL 2011.
KKR ended as runners-up to CSK in IPL 2021 after losing the final by 27 runs. The franchise does not seem keen on retaining its leadership group of Eoin Morgan and Dinesh Karthik.
Senior KKR players Sunil Narine, Andre Russell retained
Sunil Narine, who is the senior player for the franchise, is one of the few players to have played for only one team in the IPL. Narine has scalped 143 wickets from 134 matches at an average of 24.53.
West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell has been phenomenal for the franchise in the lower-middle order as a finisher and can also get some crucial breakthroughs with the ball.
Venkatesh Iyer was the revelation of IPL 2021 and broke into the KKR team with his power-hitting spree against the best bowlers in the world.
The left-handed batter scored 370 runs from 10 innings in the second phase of IPL 2021 at the strike rate of 128.41.
As a result, Iyer also got the opportunity to make his international debut for India in the recently- concluded three-match T20I series.
Leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy picked 18 wickets in the last IPL and was one of the key factors that helped KKR to reach the IPL final.
There will be a massive reshuffle of players as teams are allowed to retain not more than four players subject to the salary price tagged by BCCI.
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Andre Russell, Varun Chakaravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer & Sunil Narine have been retained for the upcoming IPL season ✍️#KKR #AmiKKR #GalaxyOfKnights #WeTheFuture #IPLRetention pic.twitter.com/80x2cT1YtC
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) November 30, 2021
According to BCCI’s retention policy, the salary of each player in case a team retains four players – Rs 16 crore for Player 1, Rs 12 crore for Player 2, Rs 8 crore for Player 3 and Rs 6 crore for Player 4.
This means a total of Rs 42 crore will be deducted from the team’s purse before they enter the mega auction of IPL 2022.
KKR retained players with price tags:-
Andre Russell(16 cr)
Venkatesh Iyer (8 cr)
Varun Chakravarthy (8 cr)
Sunil Narine (6 cr)
Also Read: IPL 2021: Brendon McCullum Reveals Why Andre Russell Didn’t Play IPL Final vs CSK