With the 10th edition of India’s premier Twenty20 (T20) league — the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017— all set to get underway from April 5, the season once again promises to deliver to the hype and is set to rule the hearts of the cricket fans for a month and a half. The same stands for all the franchises, including two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who are indeed one of the powerhouses in the tournament. They would be backing themselves to claim the coveted title once again, and for the record third time, as they get set to rule the KKR fans all over the country, when they start a fresh innings this season on April 7, and get the proceedings underway by taking on the Gujarat Lions (GL) in their opening tie at the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) Stadium in Rajkot.
PL 10 is about three months away, but the build-up has started to pick up pace. All 8 franchises have met the deadline of December 15 to release lists of players who have been retained as well as let go.
Heading into their 10th season, KKR have released nine players.
KKR have taken a few gambles. Firstly, they let off Morne Morkel, who has been the backbone of their bowling department for the past two seasons. Although there is no specific explanation from the franchise on his release, a probable reason could be South Africa’s tour of England next year, which begins as early as in May.
Jaydev Unadkat has been release as well. Unadkat had managed to play just one game in the previous season. Unadkat had an ordinary domestic season, which could also be among the reasons for his exit. The omission of John Hastings is a big call by KKR. The Australian all-rounder too was considered as a good signing by the former champions. However, Hastings managed to play just a couple of matches in which he hardly made an impact.
The axing of Shaun Tait doesn’t come as a surprise. Having announced his retirement from the ODIs, his sole focus is on T20s. However, Tait has failed to make an impact in the format, and is not considered for selection in the Australian side. His poor form in the ongoing domestic Australian season, especially in the T20s, could be one of the very reasons of his axe from the side, as he has just managed to claim 10 wickets in eight matches he played last year in the Australian T20 tourneament, Big Bash League (BBL). 10 wickets for 247, with an average of 25, and an economy of around 8, while his bef performance was 3 for 16, which is clearly not a favourable form in the format.
The most shocking omission has been the ICC World T20 winning player Jason Holder. Although Holder did not have a great season in 2016 wherein he played four matches and claimed 2 wickets alongside scoring just 22 runs. The omission Brad Hogg too comes as a surprise, as he provided enough firepower to KKR in absence of Sunil Narine. He had undergone a bowling action change after being called for having a suspect action. Narine has struggled to make an impact in the tournament since then, while Hogg contributed decently. Although the reason for Hogg’s omission is unknown as well.
The remaining players who have been released are Colin Munroe, Rajagopal Satish, and Manan Sharma, who were roped in the previous season, but did not get any match.
Gambhir’s selection in the side and as captain has been the wisest choice for the franchise. As captain, Gambhir has led KKR’s revival into a strong outfit which enters every IPL edition as a favourite. Having led the team to twin IPL victories, he remains the right man to complete the hat trick for the side. The retention of Narine too doesn’t come as a surprise. The mystery spinner has been among the key figures in KKR’s bowling attack. However, with his changed bowling action, Narine is yet to make an impact. It would be interesting to see if he can carry forward the tag of ‘mystery spinner’ along with him anymore.
Robin Uthappa, the opening batsman and the first choice wicketkeeper for the side, has been on a roll for the side for the past couple of seasons. He has been contributing decently with the bat, finishing as the top run scorer for the side last season. He has also been doing a sound job behind the stumps. The same stands for Piyush Chawla, who has occasionally contributed with the bat as well. No one can forget his contributin in KKR’s second title win in 2014.
One of the most important retentions in the batting department has been Yusuf Pathan, who has paid rich dividends of the team’s undying trust over the years. Yusuf has lived up to the expections of being one of the most important death-over specialist. He is being backed to play another crucial role in the upcoming season. Shakib Al Hasan retains himself, as every team would want to have a quality all-rounder of his calibre.
Umesh Yadav has been a decent contributor for KKR. But a revamped version of Umesh —,who does not shy away from swinging the bat — will be perhaps the most exciting thing to look forward to in the KKR team. Manish Pandey has been the key to KKR’s middle-order success. His remains an excellent retention.
Australia’s Chris Lynn has not played a great deal but has delivered almost on every occasion he has stepped into the field.Lynn is one of the best fielders in the side, and his exploits with the bat in the ongoing BBL 2016-17 raises hopes of a solid performance if given a chance. . Suryakumar Yadav has propelled KKR to numerous wins; he remains one of their batting mainstays.
Andre Russell — the true X-factor in every sense as far as T20 cricket is concerned —has been extremely successful with both bat and the ball. He finished as the top wicket-taker for KKR in the last season, and also has been involved in numerous instances where he plundered quick runs.
With KKR releasing Hogg, can they be expected to aim for South African leg-spinner in the form of Imran Tahir? He has been recently released by Delhi Daredevils (DD). With KKR getting rid of Hogg, it would be a wise choice for them to rope in Tahir. He would perfectly act as the backup specialist spinner for them, and has had a good record, with also being in good form of late.
Therefore, judging by the team retained by KKR, they have managed to retain a total of 14 players, which includes 4 overseas players. As of now, KKR do need a minimum of 4 more overseas players, and as many Indian players. It would be interesting to see how they plan things and make progress in the upcoming auction ceremony to be held in February 2017 at Bengaluru.
TRENDING NOW
Squad: Gautam Gambhir (c), Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Kuldeep Yadav, Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav (vc), Piyush Chawla, Robin Uthappa, Shakib Al Hasan, Chris Lynn, Umesh Yadav, Yusuf Pathan, Sheldon Jackson, Ankit Rajpoot.
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