IPL 2018: 5 Key Indian Players for the Kolkata Knight Riders

#1 Nitish Rana

KKR fans will have high expectations from Nitish Rana

Nitish Rana was one of the brightest talents in IPL 2017 for the Mumbai Indians. His swashbuckling and fearless approach brought him to prominence and he played some crucial innings for the Mumbai Indians under high-pressure situations.

The Mumbai Indians, however, decided not to retain him for IPL 2018 season and this gave KKR the opportunity to cash in for the highly talented left-hander.

Despite signing some big names in the player auctions, the KKR middle order seems to be lacking top-level experience on paper.

Hence, Rana will be a key player in the middle order for KKR and they will hope for some fireworks from him. He will provide the much-needed X-factor in the middle order for KKR.

Rana already has four half-centuries to his name in his short IPL career. He has played 17 matches so far in which he has scored 437 runs at an average of 31.21 and a strike rate of 128.90.