IPL 2021: Kolkata Knight Riders | List of players KKR may release, retain and sign from mega auction

Bengaluru, November 13: The Kolkata Knight Riders never had a settled campaign in the IPL 2020. For a while they were in the top four, and then slid to bottom half, finally ending up at 5th to bow out in the league phase.

The Knight Riders also saw a mid-season change in captaincy with Eoin Morgan taking over from Dinesh Karthik. The two-time champions will be eager to return to winning ways in IPL 2021 and the mega auction will be the first step to bring in some balance to the team.

Here is a closer look at which cricketers they may let go, retain and sign newly during the IPL auction 2021.

1. KKR may release these big stars

Dinesh Karthik, Kuldeep Yadav, Chris Green, Tom Banton, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson (The Kiwi pacer could be bought back from the auction), Pat Cummins.

2. KKR may retain these big stars

One team could be allowed to retain five players in the IPL auction 2021. The Kolkata Knight Riders may choose to retain these five: Eoin Morgan, Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, Varun Chakravarthy.

3. 5 players KKR would like to sign

Rahul Tewatia, Parthiv Patel, Wriddhiman Saha, Anrich Nortje, Ravi Bishnoi.

4. Future of Eoin Morgan as KKR captain

Morgan has taken over KKR captain in IPL 2020 when their campaign has already spiralled into an abyss of inconsistency under Dinesh Karthik. In the first phase, Morgan often did not get a chance to bat higher up the order and when he took over as captain the England skipper had to continue to bat lower down the order. In short, Morgan never really got a chance to make an impression as a batsman and captain.

Hopefully, the KKR management will offer Morgan another tournament to build a team and showcase his talent as batsman and skipper as he was allowed to do with England. The Knight Riders could be very beneficial.