IPL Auction 2020: Grading each franchise based on their performance

#5 Kolkata Knight Riders - Auction Grade: B

Pat Cummins

Players bought: Eoin Morgan(5.25 Cr), Pat Cummins(15.50 Cr), Rahul Tripathi(60 Lac), Varun Chakravarthy(4 Cr), Tom Banton(1 Cr), Manimaran Siddharth(20 Lac), Chris Green(20 Lac), Pravin Tambe(20 Lac), Nikhil Naik(20 Lac)

Kolkata Knight Riders made a lot of news when they released IPL veterans Robin Uthappa, Piyush Chawla, and Chris Lynn, 3 players who had played a pivotal role in the Knight Riders run of 3 playoff appearances in last 4 seasons.

While the emergence of Shubman Gill negated the loss of Chris Lynn, Uthappa's release did leave a gaping hole at the number 3 position. Armed with a purse of 35.65 Cr, the Knight Riders front office didn't waste time as they scooped up England's limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan for a sum of 5.25 Crore, in a year where he scored 268 in just 9 matches at an average of 44.66 in T20I's, Morgan is a great fit for KKR at the number 3-4 position.

It is a well-known fact in the IPL that Knight Riders have a weak pace attack. While the young trio of Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna, and Kamlesh Nagarkoti have shown great potential they have lacked the temperament in crunch situations that a seasoned pacer would have offered. Hence the Knight Riders think tank went all in for tearaway Aussie Pat Cummins, acquiring his services for a mind-boggling figure of 15.50 Cr, making him the costliest overseas buy ever at the IPL Auction.

With Lynn released the opening spot alongside Shubman Gill was vacant which the Knight Riders filled by acquiring the likes of young guns Rahul Tripathi and Tom Banton, both of whom have an aggressive approach to batting and are able replacements for Lynn.

Tamil Nadu mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy who raked in the moolah last year with an 8.4 cr bid was in luck again as the Knight Riders shelled out a huge sum of 4 cr for his services, nearly 14 times his base price of 30 Lakhs. He will join the likes of Sunil Narine and Kuldeep Yadav and bolster the Knight Riders spin department.

Aussie all-rounder Chris Green at 20 lakhs is another shrewd buy and could turn out to be a dark horse with his left-arm spin.

The lack of an experienced Indian fast bowler can hurt the Knight Riders and may lead to several changes in the structure of the team. They will also hope that unlike many before him Cummins doesn't break under the pressure of the price tag. Also, the Knight Riders' failure to sign a backup for Andre Russell may haunt them during the tournament.