As the new year begins, another edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) beckons as the BCCI has reportedly given January 20 as the deadline for the retentions and releases and the trading window will be closed on the same day as well. While the auction has been planned to be organised on February 11 at an yet undecided venue.
The IPL 2020 was the closest IPL of sorts in many ways since the team finishing last and the team qualifying at the fourth position had just a two-point difference between them but every team must have had identified their weaknesses and would want to plug the holes during the retention and auction windows before the new season.
Most of the teams would retain their core players of 10-12 people, since this is a mini auction while wanting to strengthen the areas which they felt could have been better in the last season.
What will be the strategy of the teams heading into the IPL 2021 auction which is reportedly going to take place on February 11? Which players are likely to be released and which players might be retained. Here is an explainer of all these factors. The second team in focus is Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) squad in IPL 2020
Eoin Morgan(c), Dinesh Karthik, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins, Rinku Singh, Siddhesh Lad, Kuldeep Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Sandeep Warrier, Prasidh Krishna, Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy, Nikhil Naik, Manimaran Siddharth, Tom Banton, Chris Green, Tim Seifert.
Players to be retained
When the name of this franchise comes up, the names of two players contant with the side also spring up i.e., of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine. Along with the West Indian duo, KKR would most likely retain their batting core of skipper Eoin Morgan, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi. And, a late replacement in Tim Seifert, who has performed brilliantly for New Zealand in T20Is, KKR might want to retain him as an overseas opener's option, who can keep as well.
Also likely to get retained will be the pace battery of Prasidh Krishna, Lockie Ferguson, Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti, alongwith the star of the season for them, Varun Chakravarthy.
Players that could be released
After a mid-season captaincy change in 2020, there are reports that say that KKR might release Dinesh Karthik from the squad after low returns with the bat in the 2020 season. Another Indian international that could axed could be the left-arm chinaman spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who hasn't been in best form for the Kolkata franchise in the last two seasons. And, KKR might also look to release Pat Cummins, for whom they emptied their pockets by splurging INR 15.5 Crores, to free-up their purse . Other players who could also be released from the squad are Chris Green, Tom Banton, Siddhesh Lad, Nikhil Naik and M Siddhartha.
