Kolkata Knight Riders retain Gautam Gambhir and Sunil Narine

Gautam Gambhir and Sunil Narine can be seen in the KKR colours for few more years

Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders have confirmed the retention of the Indian opening batsman Gautam Gambhir and the West Indian spinner Sunil Narine. They have also revealed that Gambhir, who has been captaining the team for the last three years, will continue to lead the Shah Rukh Khan co-owned franchise.

Under the captaincy of Gambhir, carrying on the back of impressive performances from the Sunil Narine-led bowling unit, KKR won their first ever IPL title in 2012. It is worth noting that Gambhir, in combination with Dav Whatmore and Trevor Bayliss, turned around the fortunes of the side which had a miserable first three years in the league.

According to IBNlive, an IPL official informed: “Yes, Gambhir will be retained for the upcoming season. He has been an inspirational leader for KKR and retaining him also helps in maintaining the continuity for the franchise. The huge base of KKR fans have started relating with Gambhir and that’s a big factor towards retaining him.

“As far as Sunil Narine is concerned, he has been a champion performer for the KKR in IPL. His wicket-taking ability and economy rate is there for everyone to see.”

While the other franchises have not confirmed their retentions, some of the notable exclusions from KKR include Mohammed Shami, Shakib Al Hasan, Eoin Morgan and Jacques Kallis. The IPL rules permit the retention of five players by a franchise.