3 players whose careers blossomed after leaving KKR 

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are among the most successful franchises in Indian Premier League (IPL) history. They have won the championship twice and finished runners-up once.

Over the years, KKR has played a massive role in elevating some young talents. Players like Venkatesh Iyer, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Nitish Rana and others made it to the Indian team after impressing for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Even experienced players like Robin Uthappa, Lakshmipathy Balaji and Umesh Yadav earned a recall to the Indian squad after performing well for Kolkata.

It is the dream of many players to represent KKR in the IPL, but there have been a few players whose careers have blossomed since they left the franchise. Here's a list of three such cricketers.

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3 players whose careers blossomed after leaving KKR

#1 Shubman Gill

New Zealand v India - 2nd ODI (Image: Getty)

Shubman Gill was fresh off his U-19 World Cup 2018 win when he made his IPL debut for the Kolkata Knight Riders. The young Indian batter played four seasons for Kolkata, scoring 1,147 runs in 55 innings at a strike rate of 123.

KKR did not retain Gill ahead of the 2022 IPL season. He moved to the Gujarat Titans and became a match-winner for the Ahmedabad-based franchise. Gill has scored 483 runs in 16 matches for GT.

He gained confidence from those performances and is among the top openers in Indian cricket right now across all three formats.

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#2 Suryakumar Yadav

New Zealand v India - 2nd ODI (Image: Getty)

Suryakumar Yadav was first signed by the Mumbai Indians in the IPL, but he could not impress much in his first stint with the record champions. The Kolkata Knight Riders signed him in 2014 and tried him as a finisher. Yadav played brilliantly for the team, scoring 608 runs in 41 innings at a strike rate of 131.89.

Yadav established himself as a match-winner for KKR, but he was still far away from a maiden national call-up. He returned to Mumbai Indians in 2018 and played as a top-order batter for the franchise.

After scoring heaps of runs for MI from 2018 to 2020, Yadav finally made his T20I debut against England in 2021.

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#3 Rahul Tripathi

Northamptonshire v India - T20 Tour Match (Image: Getty)

Rahul Tripathi came into the limelight after performing well for the Rising Pune Supergiant in IPL 2017. His career dwindled in 2018 though, as he could not perform consistently for the Rajasthan Royals. After two uneventful seasons with RR, Tripathi moved to the Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2020 season.

Like Suryakumar Yadav, moving to KKR changed Tripathi's career. He played 27 innings for Kolkata, scoring 627 runs at a strike rate of 135.13. However, Kolkata did not retain him for the 2022 season.

The Sunrisers Hyderabad signed him next and allotted him a permanent place in the team's top-order. Tripathi played 14 matches for SRH in IPL 2022, aggregating 413 runs at an average of 37.55 and a strike rate of more than 155. He made his international debut against Sri Lanka earlier this year.