IPL 2019: 3 key overseas players for Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders are one of the most successful teams in the IPL. They won the IPL title in 2012 and 2014 and finished in the third position last year.

KKR’s players have won 1 orange cap, 3 Most Valuable Player awards, and 1 Emerging Player of the Year accolade till date. The leading run-scorer of the side is Gautam Gambhir, while the leading wicket-taker is Sunil Narine.

KKR made a few astute buys in this year’s auction, signing the likes of Carlos Brathwaite, Lockie Ferguson, Joe Denly and Anrich Nortje. They retained most of their key players as well, including Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik, Chris Lynn, Piyush Chawla, Nitish Rana and Kuldeep Yadav.

This year, the team will be captained by Dinesh Karthik and they will get their campaign underway against last year's runners-up, the Sunrisers Hyderabad, on March 24 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

On that note, here’s a look at 3 key overseas players for KKR in this edition of IPL.

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#1 Lockie Ferguson

Ferguson is known for his deadly bouncers and the pace at which he bowls.

27-year-old Lockie Ferguson is a pace bowler from New Zealand. He made his ODI debut over two years ago, in December 2016 against Australia. In January 2017 he made his T20I debut against Bangladesh, taking two wickets in his first two deliveries.

However, Ferguson truly caught everyone's eye when he picked 6 wickets from 2 matches in the ODI series against Sri Lanka following which he picked 11 wickets from 3 matches in the ODI series against Pakistan.

Till date, Ferguson has 46 wickets from 27 ODIs and 10 wickets from 5 T20Is.

He seems to be in a decent vein of form, having picked 5 wickets from 3 matches in the recent series against Bangladesh.

He entered the IPL auction with a base price of 1 crore and Kolkata Knight Riders bought him for 1.60 crores. Known for his deadly bouncers bowled at quite a significant pace, it will be interesting to see how Ferguson performs in Indian conditions.

#2 Sunil Narine

Narine won the Most Valuable Player title in 2012 and 2018 and will play a key role this season

30-year-old Sunil Narine hails from the West Indies and is primarily a right-hand off-spinner who can contribute some runs with lusty ball-striking. He last played an international match back in 2016, turning his focus instead onto T20 leagues around the world.

He is one of the cleverest bowlers in the T20 format with a plethora of variations up his sleeve, including carrom balls and knuckleballs.

In the IPL, representing Kolkata Knight Riders (2012-present), he won the Most Valuable Player title in 2012 and 2018. He has taken a total of 112 wickets from 98 IPL matches till date.

In the 2018 IPL, Narine opened the batting for KKR and made some quick runs at the top order, which means he is likely to continue at the top of the order for the side.

#3 Andre Russell

Russell won the Most Valuable Player title in 2015

30-year-old Andre Russell is a cricketer from the West Indies and is widely considered one of the biggest hitters of the cricket ball. He is also a very good bowler at the death.

Russell was a member of the Windies squads that won the T20 World Cup in 2012 and 2016. In 2016, he scored the fastest century in the Caribbean Premier League, off just 40 balls. He has won major T20 titles, including CPL, IPL, BBL, BPL and PSL with his franchises.

In the IPL, he has represented Delhi Daredevils (2012-2013) and Kolkata Knight Riders (2014-present), winning the Most Valuable Player title in 2015. He has picked up 44 wickets from 50 IPL matches thus far and scored 890 runs at an average of 26.96, striking at 177.29.

He is expected to bat at No:6 for KKR and bowl a few useful overs at the death.