IPL 2019: Kolkata Knight Riders' strongest possible playing XI

Kolkata Knight Riders walked into the IPL 2019 Auction with the smallest squad size and ended up the auction with the smallest squad size. The East Indian franchise made as many as eight signings and spent around Rs 16 crores to secure them. Their most expensive buy was the Windies T20I captain Carlos Brathwaite who was finally priced at a whopping five crores.

In 2018, KKR was criticized for its auction strategy. They had purchased too few players for a high cost leaving themselves vulnerable. The Knight Riders were baffling this time also as they went all guns blazing after Brathwaite when they already had Andre Russell. By the end of the auction, the Knight Riders made some smart moves and bought the valuable players as such Joe Denly, Anrich Nortje, and Lockie Ferguson.

After reaching third place in the IPL 2018, there are very few doubts about the capabilities of the Knight Riders. They already had a strong core team and very few weaknesses. After the IPL 2019 auction, this is how the strongest possible XI for KKR shapes up.

#1 Chris Lynn

Chris Lynn

The Australian big-hitter has made a tremendous impact while batting in the purple jersey. Chris Lynn is known for ‘Lynsane’ hitting and can effortlessly clear any boundary rope in the world. At the top, he is one of the most destructive batsmen in world cricket.

In the 2018 IPL, Lynn curbed his instincts to a limit but ensured that his run-scoring did not take a hit. Teams tried to trouble him by introducing a spinner early but Lynn countered his way around to score 491 runs in 16 matches with a strike rate of 130. The Australian is injury-prone but is a blockbuster batsman to open the innings.

#2 Sunil Narine

Sunil Narine

The Caribbean mystery spinner has reinvented himself as a pinch-hitting opener. It has been a revelation and has worked well in T20s. Last season, Narine amassed 357 runs in 16 matches. His average may have only been 22 but his strike-rate remained 190. He often provided fiery starts and disrupted opposition plans by tonking their best bowlers.

Batting is only the secondary duty of Sunil Narine. With the ball, he still remains lethal. In the 2018 season, Narine was the joint highest wicket-taker for KKR with 17 wickets. He did a fabulous job of tying batsmen to one end with his splendid economy rate of 7.65. All this when he bowled all the difficult overs.

#3 Robin Uthappa

Robin Uthappa

The 33-year old Karnataka batsman has been one of the mainstays of Kolkata Knight Riders over the years. Uthappa has consistently churned out runs for the franchise over the last five editions of the IPL. He began his stint with a stellar season and has been scoring in excess 350 runs every season. 2018 was not his best season and yet he still gathered 351 runs.

With at least one of Narine and Lynn being around, Robin Uthappa is the ideal man to walk out at number three. He does take a few balls to get going, but once set, he will anchor the innings to set it up for the finishers. He failed to build on the starts in 2018 but will hope to do so in 2019.

#4 Nitish Rana

Nitish Rana

The 24-year old batsman from Delhi first impressed in his sting with Mumbai Indians. In 2017, he smashed three half-centuries (one was against KKR) for the Mumbai franchise and earned his reputation as a solid batsman. In 2018, he was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders and was used in the middle order.

Rana scored 304 runs in 15 matches and contributed in vital stages of the game. He was influential with his part-time bowling as well. His famous scoop was dismissing Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in back-to-back deliveries.

#5 Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill

In the 2018 Auction, KKR did make a conscious effort of picking the Indian under-19 players. One of the successful stars from India’s World Cup winning campaign was Shubman Gill. Kolkata signed the 19-year Punjabi batsman for Rs 1.8 crores in the auction.

The right-hander was initially used in the lower middle-order and encountered difficulties of coming to bat in the crunch situations. Gill soon started delivering on the promises and scored 203 runs in the season at a healthy average of 33.83. Now, after a year, he will be an even more valuable asset to the side.

#6 Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik

2018 was Dinesh Karthik’s first IPL season as a full-time captain. With the brittle squad at his exposure, there were not many who were backing India’s long-time backup wicketkeeper. By the end of the season, he managed to win back all his critics with a splendid performance. Karthik played all three crucial roles - captain, batsman, and wicketkeeper, all extremely well.

Batting at six, Karthik is capable of handling any match situation. He can consolidate for the team in case of collapse and he can attack the opposition with cheeky strokes in the death overs. The Tamil Nadu batsman was KKR’s highest run-getter with almost 500 runs in 16 matches and will hope to extend the run.

#7 Andre Russell

Andre Russell

Andre Russell is a superstar in the T20 format. The West Indian all-rounder was serving a ban due to the doping violations but returned to the IPL 2018 in style. In the season, he scored 316 runs at a strike rate around 185. These included 31 mammoth sixes and 17 boundaries.

Not to forget, Russell gives you four overs with the ball also. He picked up 13 wickets in the 2018 edition of the IPL. Batting at number seven, he is a murderous proposition that can accelerate the total in a blink of an eye.

#8 Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav revived an old bowling art and reaped thunderous success by plying the trade. A left-arm wrist spinner is a rare entity in cricket and the batsmen in the IPL were bamboozled while batting against Kuldeep Yadav. His has tremendous control over the leg spin and googly makes him one of the most threatening bowlers in T20 cricket.

Yadav was successful in the later stages of the IPL when pitches started to turn. He collected 17 wickets from 16 matches and was the joint highest wicket-taker of the side. The spinner has currently established himself firmly in the limited overs national team and will be crucial in the upcoming season for KKR.

#9 Piyush Chawla

Piyush Chawla

The 29-year old has not enjoyed great success in international cricket but he has been phenomenal in the IPL. As of now, he is the third highest wicket-taker in the competition since its inception. Piyush Chawla bowls leg spin but his chief weapon is his well-disguised googly which the batsmen fail to pick.

In the 2018 edition, Chawla was mildly expensive but picked up 14 wickets to end as the second highest wicket-taker of the team. He is a useful batsman in the lower order as he boasts of five first-class centuries.

#10 Lockie Ferguson

Lockie Ferguson

The pace bowler from New Zealand is Kolkata Knight Rider’s latest signing from the 2019 auction. He was bought for Rs 1.60 crores. The 27-year old right-arm fast bowler has represented his nation in both formats of white-ball cricket. Ferguson is renowned for the speed that he generates with the ball.

One glaring problem that KKR had in the IPL 2018 was the lack of a death bowler. They needed someone who could bowl fast in the death overs as they missed Mitchell Starc sorely. Ferguson has played in the IPL before, representing the Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017 where he grabbed three wickets in four matches.

#11 Shivam Mavi

Shivam Mavi

Along with Shubman Gill, Kolkata Knight Riders invested in another youngster from India’s Under-19 campaign. Shivam Mavi is a quick bowler from Uttar Pradesh. After the impressive outing in the World Cup, Mavi was signed by KKR for the 2018 season.

The pace bowler featured in nine matches for the franchise where he picked up five wickets. Mavi was often used to bowl in the death overs of which he had a little experience. The young bowler will be eager to perform better in the upcoming season and completes the KKR lineup.