IPL 2020: KKR's Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, along with coach Brendon McCullum reach UAE for IPL

KKR begin their IPL 13 campaign against MI on Sept 23 in Abu Dhabi.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are all set to begin their IPL 2020 campaign and received a huge boost in the arm when it was confirmed that they will have all their foreign players available to them for their first match of the tournament.

It was earlier expected that players from Australia and England, who are currently engaged in a limited-overs series, might have to undergo the quarantine process on reaching UAE, and might miss the first match of their respective franchises.

But KKR CEO Venky Mysore confirmed that the likes of Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins, and Tom Banton will be available for them from the start, when they face Mumbai Indians on September 23 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, in their tournament opener.

IPL 2020: KKR CEO Venky Mysore says Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins available for team's IPL opener

Apart from this, their two Caribbean stars in Andre Russell and Sunil Narine also touched down in UAE after completion of the CPL 2020. While Narine is one of the best spinners in the IPL, it was Russell, who did the most damage in IPL 2019, as the all-rounder was in devastating form, smashing 510 runs at an average of 56.66 and a mind-boggling strike-rate of 204.81.

Here are the photos of Russell and Narine reaching UAE for the IPL 2020:

Apart from them, KKR also welcomed their head coach Brendon McCullum, who recently won the CPL 2020 title with Trinbago Knight Riders, KKR’s sister team. Accompanying him was Australian spinner Chris Green, who will be hoping to get a chance to turn out for the two-time champions. 

KKR will be looking at their big-name foreign imports to help improve on their fifth-place finish last season. The Dinesh Karthik-led outfit finished on 12 points in IPL 2019, winning just six out of the 14 matches they played.