IPL 2018: 5 players who Kolkata Knight Riders should axe

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) recently qualified for the playoffs of the 2018 Indian Premier League (IPL) in a rather dramatic fashion. The Kolkata-based franchise floundered at several stages, but however, ensured that they cement their position in the top four. They have had their issues throughout the tournament. They lost a couple of players to injuries and that crippled them quite a bit. Their journey has been a witness to a roller coaster ride. While there have been players who performed handsomely for them, a few of them couldn’t quite live up to their potential and flattered to deceive. In this article, we take you through the probable players who might not be retained by KKR for the next season. #1 Mitchell Johnson Mitchell Johnson of KKR. (Photo Source: Twitter) Mitchell Johnson played his last international match in 2015 and hasn’t played much cricket thereafter. The pacer’s penetrative power has diminished and currently, he isn’t the brute force he used to be during his heydays. The veteran was brought by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at his base price of INR 2 crore. He played six matches and managed only two wickets. Moreover, he went for 10.28 runs per over and has never been able to put a lid on the scoring. The 36-year old has also been in and out of the team owing to his lacklustre performance. The retired cricketer has a dismal bowling average of 108 and is unlikely to be persisted with in the upcoming season. He also has a bleak chance of finding a deal if he is left out by the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise. #2 Vinay Kumar Vinay Kumar. (Photo Source: Twitter) Vinay Kumar was drafted in by KKR for INR 1 Crore in the auction of the prestigious tournament. He played a couple of matches against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) but faltered perilously. He didn’t complete his quota in any of the matches and was a recipient of some massive hitting from the opposition batsmen. The 34-year old bowler was taken to the cleaners by Mandeep Singh in the first match. He was entrusted to bowl the final over against MS Dhoni’s men where he needed to defend 17 runs. However, he bowled a waist-height full toss which was smacked for a six and thereafter, he couldn’t save the match. He was dropped and he hasn’t made a comeback yet. #3 Javon Searles Javon Searles. (Photo by Randy Brooks – CPL T20 via Getty Images) Javon Searles was an unknown name in the auction and wasn’t expected to attract a deal. However, KKR picked him up for INR 30 lakhs. He had to wait for quite a while and eventually made his debut in the tournament against the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. He picked up the wicket of Aaron Finch but went on to leak 52 runs in his four overs. He didn’t get to bowl against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) despite being in the playing eleven. In the next match, he picked up the prized scalp of Kane Williamson when the SRH skipper threatened to take the match away from the Knights. Nevertheless, the Windies pacer was taken for 24 runs. There are fewer possibilities of him being retained by the franchise. #4 Rinku Singh Rinku Singh. (Photo Source: Twitter) Rinku Singh entered the auction with a base price of INR 20 lakhs and was drafted in by the Knight Riders. Even Mumbai was involved in a bidding war for the Uttar Pradesh-born cricketer. He played a couple of matches in the earlier part of the season and perished for single-digit scores against the RCB and CSK respectively. He got a couple of chances later, but only due to the injury of Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana. Overall, he played four matches in which he could only manage 29 runs at an average of 7.25. The 20-year old is a safe outfielder though having pouched four catches. KKR have enough Indian middle-order batsman and Rinku might not find a place in the next season. #5 Tom Curran Tom Curran. (Photo Source: Twitter) Tom Curran was roped in as a replacement of Aussie paceman Mitchell Starc, who suffered a calf injury prior to the tournament. Curran wasn’t there in the auction and was lucky to ply his trade in the prestigious T20 tournament. Yet another player in the Knights’ setup who strained to stay put in his position in the eleven and was shuffled on quite a few times along with Johnson. He played five matches and picked up six wickets. However, he has an expensive economy of 11.60 which stresses the fact that he has hardly been able to curb the batsmen from playing the big strokes. His only notable performance came against the Royals where he churned out a couple of late wickets to somewhat pull back the hosts in Jaipur.

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IPL 2018: 5 players who Kolkata Knight Riders should axe

The Knight Riders finished third on the points table of the IPL.

#3 Javon Searles

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