Two-time IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have been in good form despite not winning the title in the last four seasons. The winners of the IPL in 2012 and 2014 decided to get a new captain in IPL 2018 in Dinesh Karthik, as they released Gautam Gambhir on his request.
IPL 2020: Kolkata Knight Riders- All-time IPL XI
Karthik led the team to playoffs in 2018 and finished 5th in IPL 2019 season. This time in IPL auction, the Knight Riders decided to splurge on some big players, however, releasing star opener Chris Lynn. They bought in Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins, Rahul Tripathi, Tom Banton and Lockie Ferguson in the auction.
Keeping these changes in mind, Team COC presents to you, the Best Playing XI for the Kolkata Knight Riders for the upcoming IPL 2020.
With KKR opting to release their star opener in Chris Lynn, this time they would have to depend on Indian talent in Shubman Gill and Rahul Tripathi to give them a good start. Nitish Rana has been amazing for them in the previous few seasons and couple him with the likes of newly acquired Eoin Morgan and captain Karthik, KKR has an envious middle order to boost for.
Eoin Morgan was a good buy for the KKR side after his exploits in 20-over format recently, while Karthik has a lot to prove this season after last year’s performance, where they missed out on playoffs qualification. His batting will have to do the talking along with his leadership skills, in which he might get help from a World Cup-winning captain in Morgan.
The Caribbean duo of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine have been with the franchise for a long time and have played big roles in the success of the side. They will be expected to do their jobs as better as possible this time as well.
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A big attraction this time will be Pat Cummins, the most expensive foreign buy ever in IPL history. He is expected to lead the pace battery comprising of Russell and Prasidh Krishna. The spin department may have Kuldeep partnering Narine, along with new recruit Varun Chakravarthy, a mystery spinner, who played one game for Kings XI Punjab before getting injured.
It will be a big challenge for Dinesh Karthik to prove his mettle as captain and as a batsman, with a chance for staking a claim for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup spot in the Indian team.
COC Predicted Best Playing XI for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR):
Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik (C&WK), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy
