Kolkata Knight Riders, a quality side which once was compared with Mumbai Indians during the time when Gautam Gambhir captained the side, has certainly lost its glamour after the exit of Gambhir from the side. The team has been struggling to find a leader ever since. However, recently the side emerged as runner up of IPL 2021 due to superb knocks of their class batter Venkatesh Iyer. A new team has to be built around the quadruple of Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russel, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. Expect some of these options which are expected to be on their talents scout research analysis-
1. Harpreet Brar
The all-rounder was warming the bench for Punjab Kings until he was given an opportunity against Royal Challengers Bangalore and where he grabbed all the limelight towards him, after dismissing Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers in the same innings. He could be an ideal replacement for Shakib al Hasan in the team as he can bat and bowl seemingly well.
2. Jason Roy
An explosive opener who deserves more opportunities in IPL. The opener has performed well whenever he got the chance to be on-field, but due to Sunrisers Hyderabad already been overloaded with overseas opener, he warmed the bench for a good time. English opener is all ready to showcase his skills and KKR wants to have an opener like him after the exit of Shubhman Gill.
3. Mohammad Shami
The speedster has been released by his franchise, despite being a sole consistent performer from bowling department in their side. Knights of Shahrukh Khan haven’t retained any fast bowler, thus Mohammad Shami can fit within their pocket comfortably. Also, the team will have more overseas options to look into if they buy Shami.
4. Nicholas Pooran
Pooran could prove to be lethal for the side and do extremely well as a batter in comparison to Eoin Morgan. Nicholas Pooran wasn’t able to prove his consistency but his super knocks always resulted in one sided results in Caribbean Premier League 2021. Definitely, Kolkata should eye on him, since he can be an valuable asset for next 3-5 years.
5. Chris Lynn
Chris Lynn had a great run with the Knights before he was transferred to Mumbai Indians, yet there too he managed to score 49 runs in 1st game of IPL 2021, however he was dropped later due to return Quinton. KKR would eye him back in their colours where he can smash the bowlers all over the park with their retained Sunil Narine.
6. Josh Hazlewood
An Aussie for Aussie {Josh Hazlewood for Pat Cummins} cannot be a better option than this for the pace attack of the side. He had a marvelous 2021 year as he helped Chennai Super Kings clinch their fourth title and Australia for T20 World Cup victory. Writing him off would be a blunder, no one can afford when stakes are high.
7. Rahul Tripathi
Rahul Tripathi, a player which performed at every possible batting position from openings the innings to finishing the games at number 7 for Kolkata deserves to be back in KKR camp. KKR should put stakes on him as he is someone who hasn’t let them down for several years.