IPL 2023 Auction: 3 Players Retained By Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Who Would Have Gone Unsold In The Auction

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) retained 11 players and traded three from different franchises to make a squad of 14 players heading into the IPL 2023 auction. They traded Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Lockie Ferguson from Gujarat Titans and Shardul Thakur from Delhi Capitals.

KKR released as many as 16 players from their previous season most of who did not play for the franchise. KKR finished seventh winning six and losing 8 games under Shreyas Iyer who was announced as Kolkata’s new captain ahead of the start of the season.

The Knight Riders reached the finals of IPL 2021 as they made a historic turnaround in the UAE leg winning six of their last eight matches under captain Eoin Morgan. The former England skipper is not a part of the franchise anymore as they are looking to make a new headstart under Iyer. In this article, we take a look at three KKR players who would have gone unsold in IPL 2023 if they would have been released.

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IPL 2023 Auction: 3 Players Retained By Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Who Would Have Gone Unsold In The Auction

Varun Chakravarthy

Chakravarthy last played for India in the T20 World Cup 2021 where he did not pick up a wicket and since then has not made a return to international cricket. He had two good seasons with KKR in IPL 2020 and 21 picking up 35 wickets in the two seasons. He picked up just six in IPL 2022.

Chakravarthy’s bowling is his only attribute as a cricket. He cannot bowl and is not good on the field either. His fitness as a cricketer has always been questioned. Had KKR not retained them ahead of IPL 2023, the leggie would have perhaps gone unsold in the mega auction.

Also Read: IPL 2023 Auction: “Joe Root Will Be Really Useful For Many Franchises” – Ravichandran Ashwin

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Harshit Rana

KKR roped in Rana for 20 lakhs in the IPL 2022 mega auction. The pacer picked up just one wicket in the five matches he played last season. The Delhi cricketer has played Just one List A match and two T20s. He is aging just 21 and has not played too much if domestic cricket till this point in his career.

He has pace and potential which KKR needs to make the best use of in the upcoming season. Having been retained, Rana will hope to get more matches.

Anukul Roy

The Jharkhand all-rounder was one of the youngsters retained by the KKR franchise. He was one of the members of India’s 2018 U-19 World Cup winning campaign. He took the most wickets in the campaign (14). Roy played for Mumbai Indians before KKR bought him for 20 lakhs in IPL 2022. He picked up just one wicket in two games for KKR last season.

Not having the experience to play at the international level might have made the franchises ignore him if he would have been released.

Also Read: IPL 2023: Virat Kohli Is Much Bigger Alpha Than Me – Faf du Plessis