Kolkata Knight Riders: Mitchell Johnson to Nikhil Naik - Six Worst Signings of KKR in IPL History

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Kolkata Knight Riders have witnessed and have gone through from zenith to nadir in their 17-season journey in the Indian Premier League.

Over the years, a number of gladiators of the game have donned the famous Purple and Gold (Black and Gold for the first two seasons) of the Knights, and have created innumerable moments of magic in the 22 yards.

The two-time IPL champions won the title back in 2012 and 2014, under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir. Over the years, Sourav Ganguly, Brendon McCullum, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, Eoin Morgan, and most recently Shreyas Iyer and Nitish Rana - have led KKR to the field. In total, 128 players have played at least one match for the Knights in the 17 editions of the IPL.

KKR: Six Signings for Kolkata Knight Riders which didn't Work Out

Although many names glitter in the KKR history pages, a few names have also struggled to put themselves high in the frame. In this article, we shall take a look at Five Players who disappointed in the KKR jersey and failed to showcase their ability for the team. They, by no means, are the Worst Players in general, but their stint with KKR was massively underwhelming-

Carlos Brathwaite

Country: West Indies
Years Played: 2019
Salary: Rs 5 crore

Carlos Brathwaite came to Kolkata Knight Riders with a massive reputation as a hard-hitter. After his T20 World Cup 2016 Final heroics at the Eden Gardens, many thought Brathwaite may finally flourish in KKR's purple, but he was far away from success. The West Indies player played two matches and disappointed in both of them. He scored only 11 runs with the bat and had no success with ball either. KKR released him in 2020 and that was it for Brathwaite as a Knight Rider.

Mitchell Johnson

Country: Australia
Years Played: 2018
Salary: Rs 2 crore

Mitchell Johnson is a legend of the game and has been a top player in the IPL as well. But his glory days were with Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians, and the solitary year at KKR was nothing short of a disaster. In 2018, Johnson played six matches for KKR and ended up with just 2 wickets. He was error-prone and got dismantled across the ground with an economy of more than 10 runs per over. KKR also bought Mitchell Starc that season who didn't play citing personal reasons.

Sandeep Warrier

Country: India
Years Played: 2019, 2020, 2021
Salary: Rs 20 lakh

Sandeep Warrier was at KKR for three years, but could never cement his place. The Indian pacer played three matches in 2019 and was largely disappointing. He remained part of the KKR squad for two more seasons and played one match in each of them, and ended up wicketless in both occasions. In total, Warrier picked up 2 wickets in five matches for the Knight Riders and was then subsequently released.

Nikhil Naik

Country: India
Years Played: 2016, 2019, 2020
Salary: Rs 20 lakh

Nikhil Naik was another flop at KKR who came with a lot of hitting reputation but failed to replicate that in IPL. He first played in 2016, where he scored 23 runs of two matches. KKR released him in 2018 but bought him again in 2019. In the next two seasons, Nikhil could only managed 8 runs across two matches and was then released in the following year. He batted at a strike rate of 62 in those four matches, which is one of the lowest in tournament's history.

Ajinkya Rahane

Country: India
Years Played: 2022
Salary: Rs 1 crore

Ajinkya Rahane's buy in 2022 proved to be an underwhelming one. The batter failed for KKR across the season, scoring just 133 runs in seven innings with a Strike Rate of just 103. He played just a season at KKR and was then passed on next season. CSK bought Rahane and we could see a completely different version of the player.

Colin Munro

Country: New Zealand
Years Played: 2016
Salary: Rs 30 Lakh

Colin Munro's first season in the IPL was with KKR and the Kiwi batter failed miserably. He managed only 30 runs in four matches and was released afterwards. Even his big-money move to Delhi Capitals two years later didn't work as the batter scored only 137 runs across nine innings for DC in two years.