IPL 2020: Kolkata Knight Riders off-load Uthappa; list of released, retained players, purse for IPL auction

Bengaluru, November 15: Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday (November 15) released 11 players ahead of the IPL auction to be held on December 19 at Kolkata. The Kolkata Knight Riders are two-time champions and are eager to reclaim those glory days in their quest of a third IPL title.

The Kolkata franchise let go some of the big names like Robin Uthappa, Carlos Brathwaite, Piyush Chawla, Anrich Nortje etc while retained others like captain Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russel, Lockie Ferguson and Kuldeep Yadav as expected. Now, they will be eager to further fortify the team in the auction and add a fifth title.

1. Players released

Anrich Nortje, Carlos Brathwaite, Chris Lynn, Joe Denly, KC Cariappa, Matt Kelly, Nikhil Naik, Piyush Chawla, Prithvi Raj Yarra, Robin Uthappa, Shrikant Mundhe.

2. Why they were released

Robin Uthappa had an underwhelming season often struggling to force the pace and was under severe criticism despite part of KKR's title run twice. But sentiments hardly rule in a league like IPL. Similar cases were offered by Piyush Chawla, a long-standing KKR player, all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite, England man Joe Denly etc.

3. Players retained

The core players like captain Dinesh Karthik, Lockie Ferguson, Kuldeep Yadav Sunil Narine, Andre Russel were retained by the Kolkata outfit.

4. Purse available

Kolkata Knight Riders had a healthy Rs 6.5 crore left in their purse after the IPL 2019 auction. The Kolkata side has earned a little over Rs 26 crore via releasing 12 players and there is additional Rs 3 crore from the BCCI side. Now, they can spend Rs 35.65 crore in the IPL 2020 auction next month.