CricTracker Fan Poll: Who should be the captain of KKR in IPL 2018

The two-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Kolkata Knight Riders have a big question to answer before the start of the eleventh season. They let go Gautam Gambhir, the man who changed the face of their cricket in the IPL 2018 auction and now need a new captain. A look at the squad and there is no one who has the experience of having done that in the past.

Ahead of the auction when it was speculated that Gambhir wouldn’t be retained a lot of people believed that KKR will use the Right to Match card for Manish Pandey and appoint him the captain. But since his price shot up to as high as Rs. 11 crore, they backed off from shelling that kind of money and now will have to promote someone to the job.

The prime options at hand are Andre Russell, who they retained, Chris Lynn the man who has been a sensation for them, Dinesh Karthik their new buy this season and the veteran Robin Uthappa. CricTracker decided to ask the fans to make the choice in a poll and here is how it turned out.

Andre Russell – 7%

The big man from Windies has played 34 matches in his IPL career initially represented the Delhi Daredevils and once he moved to the Knight Riders has been one of their most valuable players. Though Russell was banned for a year and didn’t take part in the 2017 edition of the tournament, when they had a chance, KKR retained him over everyone else along with Sunil Narine.

He was considered to be the best all-rounder in business back in 2016 and his IPL performance of 188 runs at a strike rate of 164 along with 15 wickets with the best of 4/20 justifies the tag. 7% of the voters think Russell would make a good captain for KKR. So the fans clearly don’t see him as the next captain of the team.

Chris Lynn – 15%

Arguably the most destructive hitter of the cricket ball, Chris Lynn knocks the ball hard and it just travels. He was signed up by the Deccan Chargers for the first time in 2012 but got just one game and scored 6 runs. The team changed to Sunrisers Hyderabad and they benched him for the entire 2013 season. Come 2014 and KKR bought him and fielded him for a couple of matches. He again got just a couple of chances in 2016.

It was the 10th edition of the IPL where he got to showcase his real talent and put up a spectacular show. Having opened the batting in 7 matches, he scored 295 with an unbelievable strike rate of 181 and a magnificent average of 49. When his name popped up in the auction and he was snapped up by another team, KKR pulled out their RTM card and snapped him back.

However, Lynn isn’t the most preferred player among the fans as far as captaincy is considered.

Dinesh Karthik – 27%

Karthik one of those players whose represented a bunch of franchises in the IPL will now wear the Purple and Gold of the Knight Riders. In the past, he has played for Mumbai Indias, Delhi Daredevils, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Lions. Over the last few years, DK has evolved as a T20 cricketer and is a real asset for the team with the bat in the middle and lower order.

He has played an amazing number of 152 matches in the IPL and has played almost all the matches for his teams in every season of the tournament. Karthik has 2903 runs to his name along with 88 catches and 26 stumpings. He is the most experienced player in this team but only 27% fans favour his appointment as the captain.

Robin Uthappa – 51%

He is the man. After letting Gambhir go and failing to retain anyone among Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan, Kolkata Knight Riders didn’t want to leave it to fate and used the RTM card for Robin. He is one of the few players left with the franchise who has been with them since 2014. He is the Mr Consistent of the team and puts up a spectacular effect almost every season.

In his IPL career, the right-hander has played 149 matches and scored 3735 runs with a strike rate of 132, while doing that he also has 22 half centuries to his name. As a wicketkeeper, he has done justice to the role as well and grabbed 75 catches coupled with 32 stumpings.

All in all, he is the main man for KKR this season and the fans concur on this. In our poll, a total of 51% voted in favour of Robin and want to see the Karnataka man lead the Knights this season.