IPL 2023: 5 KKR Players Who Will Play All The Matches Of The Season

IPL 2023: 5 KKR Players Who Will Play All The Matches Of The Season.  The Kolkata Knight Riders meant some serious business at the IPL 2023 mini-auction in Kochi on December 23.

The two-time winners were inconsistent last year in IPL 2022 and failed to progress to the playoffs due to an inferior net run rate. Heading into this year’s auction, KKR had a purse of INR 7.05 crore with 11 player slots (eight Indian and three overseas players).

They released most of their players including the likes of Pat Cummins (who made himself unavailable to focus on national duties), Sam Billings (backed out from the IPL 2023 auction), Aman Khan, Shivam Mavi, Mohammad Nabi, Chamika Karunaratne, Aaron Finch, Alex Hales, Abhijeet Tomar, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Sharma, Baba Indrajith, Pratham Singh, Ramesh Kumar, Rasikh Salam, and Sheldon Jackson.

IPL 2023 | Sri Lanka tour of India 2023 | Dream11 Prediction | Fantasy Cricket Tips | Cricket Match Prediction Today | Cricket News | Cricket Live Score | New Zealand tour of India 2023 | Australia tour of India 2023

The Shreyas Iyer-led side traded bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur from the Delhi Capitals and New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson and Afghan wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz from the Gujarat Titans.

KKR opened their account with a steal buy in the form of promising batter Narayan Jagadeesan for INR 90 lakh. They then invested in the uncapped Indian domestic talent Vaibhav Arora for INR 60 lakh. Kolkata played the waiting game for a while before finally zeroing in on Suyash Sharma at his base price of INR 20 lakh.

IPL 2023 | IND vs SL 2023 | India vs Sri Lanka 2023 | India National Cricket Team | IND vs NZ 2023 | India vs New Zealand 2023 | IND vs AUS 2023 | India vs Australia 2023

The former champions managed another steal deal as they bought David Wiese for INR 1 crore. The Kolkata-based franchise came out all guns blazing during the accelerated auction, buying three seasoned players – Bangladesh duo of Litton Das for INR 50 lakh and Shakib Al Hasan for INR 1.5 crore and Indian opener Mandeep Singh for INR 50 lakh besides Kulwant Khejrolia.

Players bought in the auction: Shakib Al Hasan (INR 1.5 crore), Mandeep Singh (INR 50 lakh), Litton Das (INR 50 lakh), Kulwant Khejroliya (INR 20 lakh), David Wiese (INR 1 crore), Suyash Sharma (INR 20 lakh), Vaibhav Arora (INR 60 lakh), Narayan Jagadeesan (INR 90 lakh).

KKR Final Squad: Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, Narayan Jagadeesan, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma, David Weise, Kulwant Khejrolia, Mandeep Singh, Litton Das, Shakib Al Hasan.

IPL 2023: 5 KKR Players Who Will Play All The Matches Of The Season

Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer, the KKR skipper, was bought for a whopping sum of INR 12.25 Crore as the franchise KKR went all out to attain the services of the India batter in IPL 2022 auctions. He had scored 2776 runs in 101 IPL games averaging 31.55. In IPL 2022, he scored 401 runs in 14 games averaging 30.85 with 3 fifties at a strike rate of 134.56. Being the skipper, he will play all IPL 2023 games unless injured.

Nitish Rana

Nitish Rana, the Delhi left-hand batsman has been a vital cog in the KKR middle order over the years. He has made useful contributions in the middle and often helped KKR to chase or put up high scores on the board after a top-order collapse.

He had a decent outing in the IPL 2020 edition with 352 runs from 14 matches at a strike rate of 138.58. In IPL 2021, he scored 383 runs averaging 29.46 in 17 games, and in IPL 2022, he scored 361 runs in 14 matches averaging 27.77 at a strike rate of 143.82. He was retained by KKR before IPL in 2023. Being an important middle-order batter, he will play all IPL 2023 games unless injured.

Andre Russell

Andre Russell, the big-hitting Caribbean all-rounder, will be the X factor of the KKR team again in IPL 2023. IPL 2020 and 2021 weren’t great for him as he amassed only 117 and 184 runs respectively averaging a mere 13 and 26.14 respectively.

However, in IPL 2022, he scored 335 runs in 14 games averaging 37.22 at a strike rate of 174.48 to show he hasn’t finished yet. He had also picked 17 scalps averaging 16.35 with a best of 4/5 in IPL 2022. He had played for Kolkata Knight Riders since 2014. He will play all IPL 2023 matches being the X Factor of KKR.

Sunil Narine

Sunil Narine will probably be the sole spinner in the KKR team unless the team fields the likes of Shakib Al Hasan or Anukul Roy or Varun Chakravarthy. Sunil Narine though will definitely play as he can also play the role of a pinch hitter.

The West Indies spinner picked 16 wickets in 14 IPL 2021 games averaging 22.56 but only 9 wickets in 14 IPL 2022 games averaging 34.67. He had played for KKR since 2012. He has picked 152 scalps in 148 IPL games for KKR averaging 25.13. He will play all IPL 2023 games.

Shardul Thakur

Shardul Thakur was traded to KKR for a sum of INR 10.75 Crores from Delhi Capitals in IPL 2023. The pacer all-rounder had scored the most 120 runs in 14 IPL 2022 games averaging 15 besides picking 15 scalps averaging 31.53 last season.

Overall, he has picked 82 scalps in 75 IPL games averaging 28.54 at a steep economy of 9.06. His best figure of 4/36 came last season. Being a vital pace all-rounder, he will play all IPL 2023 games unless injured. He will cover up for the absence of Pat Cummins.

Virat Kohli | Rohit Sharma | Rishabh Pant | KL Rahul | Suryakumar Yadav | Sanju Samson | Shreyas Iyer | Yuzvendra Chahal | Jasprit Bumrah