(Info4now, February 14, 2022)- Kolkata Knight Riders bring back Pat Cummins and Shivam Mavi in the thrilling contest of IPL 2022 Auction. A team in IPL, always, tries to retain their best players, and it’s not possible due to the rules of retention. KKR kept Varun Chakravarty and Sunil Narine, they being the best choices in the bowling department.
The retention of Russell Arnold is an easier decision as being a perfect all-rounder in the shorter form of the game, the big man can quickly change the game. In a white ball cricket, it’s tough to gain regular swing from the seam position or off the surface. So how one mixes it, matters. Russell is one who can hit the deck hard and is able to hurry into the stump or target over the shoulder. His batting ability needs no introduction.
Ajinkya Rahane is picked, probably, for his relaxed schedule of play. He is not an international player in blue jersey and his current red ball form is also under the close scrutiny. So KKR must try to make use of the hunger of such a high class player. He can open the innings with Venkatesh Iyer and can give KKR a stable start.
Squad: Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL 2022
Shreyas Iyer, Andre Russell, Nitish Rana Venkatesh Iyer, Varun Chakaravarthy, Shivam Mavi, Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane, Sheldon Jackson, Anukul Roy, Rasikh Dar, Baba Indrajith, Chamika Karunaratne, Abhijeet Tomar, Pratham Singh, Ashok Sharma, Sam Billings, Alex Hales, Tim Southee, Ramesh Kumar, Mohammad Nabi, Umesh Yadav, Aman Khan.
Probable XI in the early games
Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer, Andre Russell, Sam Billings, Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Umesh Yadav and Shivam Mavi.
Select Picks from other Teams (IPL 2022 Auction, Feb 12 & 13)
Mumbai Indians : Jofra Archer, Ishan Kishan, Tim David (UC), Basil Thampi (UC) Tymal Mills, Aryan Juyal (UC), Mohammad Arshad Khan (UC), Fabian Allen.
Chennai Super Kings: Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayadu, KM Asif (UC), Tushar Deshpande (UC), Chris Jordan, Shivam Dube, Dwayne Pretorius, Adam Milne, Subhranshu Senapati (UC), Prashant Solanki (UC).
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Harsaranga, Jos Hazlewood, Anuj Rawat (UC), Finn Allen, David Willey, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai (UC).
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Jonathan Bairstow, Rahul Chahar, Shahrukh Khan(UC), Harpreet Brar (UC), Liam Livingston, Odean Smith, Raj Angad Bawa (UC), Writtick Chatterjee (UC).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Nicholas Pooran, T Natarajan, Rahul Tripathi (UC), Kartik Tyagi (UC), Aiden Markram, Romario Shepherd, Glenn Phillips, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Shashank Singh (UC).
Delhi Capitals: Shardul Thakur, Mitch Marsh, Kuldeep Yadav, KS Bharat(UC), Mandeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Chetan Sakariya, Yash Dhull (UC).
Rajasthan Royals: Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvenra Chahal, KC Cariappa (UC), Jimmy Neesham, Navdeep Saini.
Gujrat Titans: Mohammed Shami, Jason Roy, David Miller, Matthew Wade, Wriddhiman Saha, Rahul Tewatia (UC), Noor Ahmed (UC), Jayant Yadav, Alzarri Joseph.
Lucknow Super Giant: Quinton de Kock, Manish Pandey, Jason Holder, Deepak Hooda, Mark Wood, K Gowtham, Dushmanta Chameera, Even Lewis, Mohsin Khan (UC).
Source: Star Sports Network, Star Sports 1 HD Live and Twitter Handles of Kolkata Knight Riders and Indian Premier League.