IPL 2018: 3 former players that Kolkata Knight Riders must have regretted releasing

Kolkata Knight Riders came into the tournament as the weakest team on paper. The team had a terrible time with most of their vital players getting injured ahead of the tournament. However, the team emerged as one of the most competitive teams in the tournament and finished third on the points table.

Kolkata Knight Riders crashed out of the tournament in the 2nd Qualifier match when they were defeated by the table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad. Here are the three players who were part of the Kolkata Knight Riders team in the 2017 season whom the team must have regretted letting go off after seeing their performance this year:

---

#3 Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav, one of India's leading fast bowlers has been seen as a Test specialist even though he has an impressive record in limited-overs cricket. Yadav who played for Kolkata Knight Riders in the previous seasons was not retained by the team even after an impressive season in 2017.

Yadav was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore at a price of Rs. 4.2 crore which turned out to be one of the biggest steals in the auction this year. Yadav came back as a revamped T20 bowler and was soon rewarded with a call-up to the Indian T20 squad for the tour of England.

In the 14 matches that he played in the season, he took 20 wickets at an impressive economy of 7.86. He was one of the vital members of the team and won many of the matches single-handedly.

Yadav troubled the batsmen of his previous team in the opening game of his team this season and it must be the first time that Kolkata Knight Riders would have realized that they made a big mistake not retaining him.

​