IPL 2020: 3 ways KKR could line up next season
It has widely been acknowledged after the completion of the 2019 IPL auction that Kolkata Knight Riders are one of the most dangerous teams in the upcoming tournament and are certainly more than capable of causing problems for the traditional favourites, such as Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.
Their buys in the auction have been box offices, such as picking up Pat Cummins for 15.5 crores and, in the process, making him the most expensive foreigner in IPL history and the second-most expensive player overall. They have also got real value for money with the purchase of Tom Banton for his base price of 1 crore and have also continued a fantastic story by drafting in 48-year old leggie Pravin Tambe. Their squad make-up is intriguing, so let's have a look at 3 ways they could line up come March 2020.
The First-Choice XI
Sunil Narine, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Tripathi, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Kuldeep Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna.
First off, let us start by hazarding a guess at what KKR's first-choice team would look like. These eleven players should be the ones we expect to see more or less throughout the tournament and will be called upon to deliver in most crunch scenarios.
Opening the batting for this team are Sunil Narine and Shubman Gill. While Narine's job will be to bludgeon the bowlers from the word go, Gill will look to play himself in and anchor the innings. Following these two is a fairly dependable middle order, consisting of Nitish Rana and captain Dinesh Karthik, as well as new buys Eoin Morgan and Rahul Tripathi. With a healthy mix of left-handers and right-handers, KKR can afford to send in whoever they want depending on the situation and with the firepower of Andre Russell to follow, the batsmen can play freely, knowing his ability to strike a ball.
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The bowling attack will be led by Pat Cummins, with able support in the form of Indian youngsters Shivam Mavi and Prasidh Krishna, as well as Russell in the pace department. Looking to squeeze batsmen from the other end will be the crafty spin of Kuldeep Yadav and Narine. This line-up provides captain Karthik with 6 quality bowling options, which is almost necessary for this squad, given Russell's fitness issues.