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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team in IPL 2016: Some valuable purchases but too all-rounder heavy

Though KKR look a strong outfit and there is no doubt that quality all-rounders make a difference, one is bound to feel that they have lost out an opportunity to strengthen their batting.

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Andre Russell in action during IPL 2015 (Photo caption: Getty Images)
Andre Russell in action during IPL 2015 (Photo caption: Getty Images)

Gautam Gambhir’s volatile nature is well-known to the cricket fraternity. So, when on Saturday, he was seen sitting next to former Australian batsman Simon Katich in the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) camp during IPL auction 2016, it did rekindle memories of the infamous faceoff between the two in the 2008 Kotla Test when umpire Billy Bowden had to separate them. However that is in the past, and IPL has seen moments when Harbhajan Singh hugged Ricky Ponting and even Andrew Symonds, so we can assume that the common interest of the good of KKR has narrowed down the bridge between captain Gambhir and the newly appointed assistant coach Katich. READ:IPL 2016 Auction Updates & Blog: Teams finalised for IPL 9

KKR, two-time IPL champions, adopted a cautious approach in the auction. Gambhir did clarify that it was deliberate. During a discussion with the TV presenters, Gambhir said, “We are a very settled side and we are not looking for too many changes. We are pretty keen on keeping our squad short. It can get difficult with a bigger group because everyone does not always get a game and then they begin to drift away.”

The buys: KKR ended up buying only seven players from this auction and have a squad size of 22 players, which is among of the smallest of the sides. Pocketing New Zealand all-rounder Colin Munro for INR 30 lakhs was a smart buy. Less than a month back, Munro smashed the second-fastest T20I fifty against Sri Lanka. He can also be used as an effective medium-pace bowling option. KKR have released Dutch superstar Ryan ten Doeschate, and Munro seems to be more than a handy replacement for him.

In fact, KKR have bought Munro, Rajagopal Sathish (20 lakhs), Manan Sharma (10 lakh) and Jason Holder (70 lakh) for a collective amount of INR 1.3 crores. Sathish is an experienced campaigner who strengthens the batting and can bowl spin if needed; Manan, son of former cricketer Ajay Sharma, is a spin-bowling all-rounder; and West Indian captain Holder’s effectiveness is well known.

The other major buys for them were Jaydev Unadkat (INR 1.6 crores), Ankit Rajpoot (INR 1.5 crores) and John Hastings (INR 1.3 crores). Unadkat, who started his IPL career as a teenager with KKR, was highly rated by their bowling coach Wasim Akram. Unadkat picked 9 wickets for Saurashtra in recently concluded Ranji Trophy quarter-final and found himself picked by the franchise where it had all started for him. Rajpoot, who plays domestic cricket for Uttar Pradesh, has earlier been a part of Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He has performed consistently for UP and adds to the pace brigade, which gets further boost with the addition of Hastings. The 30-year-old Australian is an experienced campaigner and recently bowled well against the Indians Down Under. Kolkata Knight Riders team in IPL 2016 Auction Live Updates: Jason Holder, Jaydev Unadkat, John Hastings, Colin Munro picked up by KKR

Here’s the KKR full squad and once marked in bold are the newest addition post auction on Saturday:

Player and age Country Roles Salary
Gautam Gambhir, 34 India Captain, Batsman INR 12.5 crores
Sunil Narine, 27 West Indies Spinner INR 9.5 crores
Robin Uthappa, 30 India Wicketkeeper, Batsman INR 5 crores
Piyush Chawla, 27 India Bowling All-rounder INR 4.25 crores
Yusuf Pathan, 33 India Batting All-rounder INR 3.25 crores
Morne Morkel, 31 South Africa Fast bowler INR 2.8 crores
Shakib Al Hasan, 28 Bangladesh All-rounder INR 2.8 crore
Umesh Yadav, 28 India Fast bowler INR 2.6 crores
Manish Pandey, 26 India Batsman INR 1.7 crores
Jaydev Unadkat, 24 India Fast bowler INR 1.6 crores
Ankit Rajpoot, 22 India Medium-pacer INR 1.5 crores
Chris Lynn, 25 Australia Batsman INR 1.3 crores
John Hastings, 30 Australia Bowling All-rounder INR 1.3 crores
Jason Holder, 24 West Indies Bowling All-rounder INR 70 lakhs
Suryakumar Yadav, 25 India Batsman INR 70 lakhs
Andre Russell, 27 West Indies All-rounder INR 60 lakhs
Brad Hogg, 45 Australia Spinner INR 50 lakhs
Kuldeep Yadav, 21 India Spinner INR 40 lakhs
Colin Munro, 28 New Zealand Batting All-rounder INR 30 lakhs
Rajagopal Sathish, 35 India Batting All-rounder INR 20 lakhs
Sheldon Jackson, 29 India Wicketkeeper, Batsman INR 15 lakhs
Manan Sharma, 22 India Bowling All-rounder INR 10 lakhs

The team bears a good look of youth and experience. It may not have the star power that Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) possesses (the addition of Shane Watson alongside Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers gives it a lethal look), but KKR have plenty of talent and utility cricketers at their disposal. Let us have a look at their strengths and weaknesses. READ: Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2016: All you need to know about the 2-time champions

 

Batting: Gambhir and Uthappa will continue to open. However, the skipper’s form has not been good off late but a quality player that he is, a turnaround might be just a matter of time. Pandey, Yusuf, Suryakumar, Lynn, Shakib and the horde of all-rounders give batting the depth. Munro adds to the explosive brand of the batting this format demands. They needed another quality batsman in their fringes, and could have gone for Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary yet again. Unfortunately, his feud with Gambhir during a Ranji Trophy match was one of the ugliest incidents of cricket. KKR have, however, roped in the experienced Sathish for a similar role.

Spin bowling: KKR have won the tournament twice, and both times it has been the magic of Narine that has done the job for them. While they are heavily reliant on the Trinidadian mystery spinner, they also have plenty of other quality tweakers in their ranks. We will have to wait and see how effective Narine is with his remodelled action. Along with leg-spinner Chawla, Chinaman bowler Kuldeep and slow left-arm orthodox bowler Shakib, they have now roped in young Manan. Expect rank turners in Eden Gardens and KKR to play to their strength — spin.

Pacers: Morkel leads the attack and has Umesh for support. Pace was one of the weaknesses of this side but this year around they seem to have sorted it. The additions of Unadkat, Rajpoot, Holder and Hastings strengthen the attack. One should also not forget Russell. The development of Russell as cricketer has been phenomenal. On his day he can win games with either bat or ball. It is a bit unfair that the star Jamaican pockets only INR 60 lakhs annually from the franchise, but he is a retained player and that is how franchise cricket works.

All-rounders: KKR are perhaps too all-rounder-heavy. Having a look at the side one gets a feeling that they may have overdone in picking all-rounders.

There is no doubt that quality all-rounders make a difference, but one is bound to feel that they have lost out an opportunity to strengthen their batting. If the crux does not perform, they have only Munro and Lynn to rely on. The Kiwi and the Australian may have made headlines in recent times due to their explosive batting, but are relatively inexperienced when it comes to international cricket or IPL. Perhaps they missed out on buying Martin Guptill, priced at INR 50 lakhs.

Overall KKR wears a formidable look. Though they have seven equally skilled teams to compete with, do not be surprised if Gambhir’s knights end up lifting the trophy at Mumbai for the record third time on May 29.

(Suvajit Mustafi consumes cricket for lunch, fiction for dinner and munches numerous other snacks throughout the day. Yes, a jack of several trades, all Suvajit dreamt of was being India’s World Cup winning skipper but ended up being a sports writer, author, screenwriter, director, copywriter, graphic designer, sports marketer, strategist, entrepreneur,  philosopher and traveller. Donning so many hats, it’s cricket which gives him the ultimate high and where he finds solace. He can be followed at @RibsGully and rivu7)

 

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