3 players KKR might use their Right to Match (RTM) card on

All rumours were put to rest as all the Indian Premier League franchises announced the name of players they have retained using the pre-auction retention option. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have retained the West Indies duo Sunil Narine and Andre Russell for 12.5 crores and 8.5 crores respectively. They have spent 21 crores out of the given 80 crore budget.

An IPL franchise can retain a maximum of five players using one of the two combinations - three pre-auction retentions and two Right to match(RTM) card or two pre-auction retentions and three Right to match (RTM) card.

Now that KKR have retained two players using pre-auction retentions, they have three Right to Match(RTM) cards in the upcoming auction.

Here is the list of three players KKR will try to retain using RTM card.

#3 Gautam Gambhir

Strengths: Captain; Aggressive opening batsman

We can split Kolkata Knight Riders' IPL graph into two. One is the pre-Gambhir era, where they got knocked out of three successive IPL tournaments in the league stages. Second is the Gambhir era, where he captained them to two IPL titles and three knock-out qualifications in seven seasons. It's not an exaggeration to say that Gautam Gambhir changed KKR's fortune in the IPL with his aggressive captaining style.

The Delhi batsman is not just a captain, he is one of the greatest batters in IPL history. Gambhir is the 4th highest run scorer in the history of Indian Premier League - 4132 runs from his 148 games in the past ten years. Only David Warner has more IPL fifties than him.

The left-hander has reached the milestone for a record 35 times. The Delhi stalwart boasts a healthy average of 31.54 and a steady strike rate of 124.60 as well. Moreover, Gambhir averaged 41.50 in the last season and scored 498 runs. Considering his age of 36, he will come at a cheaper price in the auction.