Dinesh Karthik will once again lead Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise Kolkata Knight Riders in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
KKR had retained most of its star players before the auction including Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla Prasidh Krishna, Shivam Mavi, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shubhman Gill.
Caribbean players Sunil Narine and Andre Russel were also retained by Kolkata. KKR had also secured the services of Australian batsman Chris Lynn. Ahead of the auction, Kolkata released Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, Tom Curran, Cameron Delport, Ishank Jaggi, Vinay Kumar, Apoorv Wankhade, Javon Searles.
KKR bought eight players in the recently concluded IPL Players’ auction. West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite was bought by KKR for Rs 5 crore along with New Zealand’s pacer Lockie Ferguson for Rs 1.60 crore and England batsman Joe Denly for Rs 1 crore.
KKR Squad:
Retained: Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shubman Gill, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Shivam Mavi, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Kamlesh Nagarkoti
Released: Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, Tom Curran, Cameron Delport, Ishank Jaggi, Vinay Kumar, Apoorv Wankhade, Javon Searles
Players added:
Carlos Brathwaite – Rs 5 crore
Lockie Ferguson – Rs 1.60 crore
Anrich Nortje – Rs 20 lakh
Nikhil Naik – Rs 20 lakh
Harry Gurney – Rs 75 lakh
Yarra Prithviraj – Rs 20 lakh
Joe Denly – Rs 1 crore
Shrikant Mundhe – Rs 20 lakh