Over the last few seasons, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have not been able to reach the heights they were at under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir. Last year, despite the Herculean effort from Andre Russell, they failed to reach the playoffs stage. The KKR fans will be hoping that their team produce better all-round cricket this year and becomes the three-time IPL champions.
Lack of experienced players in the bowling department cost the Knight Riders a playoff spot last season. This time around they have spent a large amount of money and acquired the services of Pat Cummins, who is regarded as one of the best bowlers from the current generation.
They also strengthened their batting department by bringing in attacking players like Eoin Morgan and Tom Banton. These two players are expected to reduce the run-scoring burden on captain Dinesh Karthik and Russell.
The Kolkata-based franchise has retained most of the key players from the previous seasons. But they released one of their most successful players, Robin Uthappa, so there will be extra responsibility on the likes of Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill to perform consistently in the top order.
Total money spent by KKR during the 2020 IPL auction: Rs 76.5 Crore
Full KKR squad for IPL 2020:
Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (c), Harry Gurney, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Rinku Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Siddhesh Lad, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Eoin Morgan, Varun Chakravarthy, Tom Banton, Rahul Tripathi, Chris Green, Manimaran Siddharth, Nikhil Naik
