IPL 2020: 3 Players KKR shouldn't have released

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) couldn’t qualify for the playoffs in the previous edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). After garnering some wins, the team, led by Dinesh Karthik, went into a slump from which they couldn’t pick themselves up.

The franchise ended up fifth in the points table and was edged out by the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), who had a superior Net Run Rate than the Knights. It’s understandable that the panic button was pressed somewhat. Ahead 2020 season, KKR has released as many as 11 players.

The Men in Gold and Purple have a lot of homework to do going into the auction, scheduled to take place on December 19. Meanwhile, the Knights could have given a second thought about releasing a few of the players, who could’ve contributed heavily for them next time.

In the article, let’s take a look at three players KKR shouldn’t have let go off:-

Chris Lynn

KKR has had their issues at the top of the order. Shubman Gill has solved the issue to some extent. But the concerns have now escalated after Chris Lynn was freed off his services. The Queenslander has been a tad jittery, while playing spin in the field restrictions.

But ever since 2017 when he started donning the Knights jersey on a consistent basis, he hasn’t let his team down at the top of the order. In 2017, he played only 7 games due to an injury, but had an average and strike-rate of 49.16 and 180.98 respectively.

In 2018 and 2019, he wasn’t brutal and had strike-rates in the 130s. However, he racked up 491 and 405 runs in the seasons with 7 fifties. KKR now needs to find an opener as Sunil Narine, Lynn’s opening partner for three seasons, isn’t a reliable batter by any means.