IPL 2022: Best starting XI of Kolkata Knight Riders after mega auction

Kolkata Knight Riders are the third-most successful IPL franchise after Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. They sealed the IPL title two times (2012 and 2014), both under Gautam Gambhir. KKR also reached the final of the 2021 season but lost to CSK.

In the 2021 season, the captain of KKR was the World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan. Morgan did a fine job as a skipper of the franchise but his performances with the bat were very ordinary. So, KKR released him ahead of the 2022 mega auction and he went unsold. Kolkata retained Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Venkatesh Iyer.

KKR were very good in the mega auction and their first buy was Shreyas Iyer who will be leadind the side in the coming season. Kolkata also bought their previous Knights like Pat Cummins and Nitish Rana to give their core a longer run. KKR is looking like a solid side after the auction and they have almost covered all the areas.

Best Starting XI of Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2022

1. Alex Hales

The hard-hitting English all-rounder has marked his return to the cash-rich league after getting picked by KKR in the auction. Having a player like Alex Hales can be a blessing for the franchise as he has the ability to accelerate the scoring rate at any point in time.

Hales is known for his high strike rate. His batting style suits the shortest format the best and KKR will have higher expectations from him. He is yet to prove himself in IPL and this year can be a breakthrough year for the batter. He was the first English batter to score a hundred in T20Is.

His numbers in the 20-over format are brilliant. Hales has played 60 T20Is for England and has scored 1644 runs at an average of 31.02. He has also played for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2018 season.