IPL 2018: Ideal replacements for the unavailable KKR stars
With just three weeks to go for the IPL, nothing seems to be going right for the two-time champions, Kolkata Knight Riders. In fact, the situation is getting worse with each passing day as some of their stars players have confirmed their unavailability due to various reasons.
It will be a tactical headache for the KKR management and their new skipper Dinesh Karthik to replace the unavailable players with the right set of players who went unsold during the IPL 2018 auctions in January. They have to get the combinations right to make up for the loss of their star players and to get a balanced squad ahead of the IPL.
Opener Chris Lynn and all-rounder Andre Russell injured themselves while playing for their respective teams in the Pakistan Super League. Then, it was Mitchell Johnson who entered this list after injuring himself at the gym. To add to KKR's woes, their prime spinner Sunil Narine was reported for suspected action during a Pakistan Super League match recently.
Therefore, the Kolkata franchise must find the appropriate replacements for these players to bolster their squad, especially their bowling. Let us now look at the players who can strengthen the KKR squad in the absence of their star players.
Lendl Simmons
The Trinidadian was signed by the Mumbai Indians as a replacement to the injured Jalaj Saxena in 2014. Since then, he has represented the Mumbai Indians in four seasons (2014-2017) and won titles with them- in 2015 and 2017.
Simmons will be remembered for his heroics against India (82*off 51) in the 2016 ICC T20 World cup semi-finals at the Wankhede stadium, thereby anchoring the Caribbean victory. In29 IPL matches, Simmons has scored 1079 runs at a strike-rate of 126.64 with his highest score being 100* against the Kings XI Punjab in May 2014.
The dashing opener’s game is almost similar to the Aussie Chris Lynn’s style of play, and he might provide the best possible start to the innings at the top. With his vast T20 experience, Simmons will be an ideal replacement for the injured Chris Lynn.
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