IPL 2022: 3 KKR players who need to have a solid season
The Kolkata Knight Riders came into the IPL mega-auction having retained Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Venkatesh Iyer. KKR's biggest acquisition at the mega auction was former DC captain Shreyas Iyer. They signed him for ₹12.25 crores and announced him as the next captain of the franchise.
Iyer will join an elite list of Sourav Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir and Dinesh Karthik, as he becomes the fourth Indian player to lead Kolkata in the Indian Premier League.
The upcoming edition of the IPL is set to begin in the last week of March. On that note, let's take a look at three players for whom this season will be extremely important.
#3 Shivam Mavi
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The Knight Riders bought back Shivam Mavi at the IPL mega-auction for ₹7.25 crores after winning a bidding war against the Lucknow Super Giants. Mavi has been a part of the KKR setup since 2018, which explains why KKR was so keen on getting him back at the auction.
In 26 IPL matches for Kolkata, Mavi has taken 25 wickets at an average of 28.60 and an economy rate of 8.30. He has won the Player of the Match award twice in his short IPL career. These are impressive numbers considering his age and injury concerns.
Mavi will most probably be the third pacer in the KKR attack after Pat Cummins and Umesh Yadav. He is an effective bowler in both the powerplay as well as the death overs. Since Yadav and Cummins aren't the best bowlers at the death, the youngster has to step up and make this opportunity count.
#2 Venkatesh Iyer
Venkatesh Iyer's cricket career has been on the rise ever since he made his IPL debut last season for KKR in the UAE leg of the tournament. The all-rounder opened the batting for the Knight Riders and scored 370 runs in 10 matches at an average of 41 and a strike rate of 128. He also picked up three wickets at an economy rate of 8.12.
Iyer went on to make his international debut after the T20 World Cup. However, he had to take up the role of a finisher in the national side in the absence of Hardik Pandya. However, that didn't stop him from performing well.
In his short international career, Iyer has scored 133 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 162 and has taken five wickets at an economy rate of 8.18.
KKR has shown a lot of faith in him. They retained him for ₹8 crores ahead of the likes of Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi and Nitish Rana. He is expected to open the batting alongside Alex Hales.
#1 Shreyas Iyer
WATCH: Shreyas Iyer's first interview as KKR Captain twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
Shreyas Iyer will have a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. Leading a new franchise is never an easy task. However, Iyer did a great job as skipper of the Delhi Capitals - making it to the playoffs and the final in 2019 and 2020 respectively. He will work in tandem with Brendon McCullum, one of the smartest coaches in the T20 format.
Iyer has a good batting record in the tournament. He made his debut in 2015 and won the IPL Emerging Player of the Season award that year. In 87 matches, Iyer has scored 2375 runs at an average of 32 and a strike rate of 124 with 16 half-centuries to his name.
Iyer is in red-hot T20 form at the moment. Since KKR signed him, he has scores of 25 (16), 57* (28), 74* (44) & 73* (45) in the T20Is against West Indies and Sri Lanka batting at No. 3 in the absence of Virat Kohli. Iyer is expected to play the same role for his franchise as well.