IPL 2018 auction: Rating the squads

Kolkata Knight Riders - 5/10

Openers: Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Cameron Delport

Middle-order batsmen: Shubman Gill, Ishank Jaggi, Nitish Rana, Apoorv Wankhade, Rinku Singh

Wicketkeepers: Dinesh Karthik

Allrounders: Andre Russell, Javon Searles

Spinners: Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav

Pacers: Mitchell Starc, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Vinay Kumar, Mitchell Johnson

The Knight Riders from Kolkata had gone into the auction with Sunil Narine and Andre Russell already in the kitty. Though their reluctance to sign Gambhir up again was a surprise, a move for Chris Lynn was expected and they did, ultimately, buy him for 9.60 crores.

They followed it up with another expensive buy, Mitchell Starc in 9.40 crores. Early in the auction, KKR had their overseas quota set and they just had to focus on the Indian guns and back-ups. However, despite spending everything they had in the purse, Knight Riders haven't managed to build up a formidable side.

They don't have much experience in the side, there is no outright choice for captaincy and if one of the regular starters are injured, there are only a few capable enough to replace them. KKR started the auction well but heavy early spending cost them at the last.