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 Alex Hales. (Photo Source: Instagram) 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. 2. Venkatesh Iyer Venkatesh Iyer. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Venkatesh Iyer has had a lot of memories to cherish in recent times. His story is quite filmy and has twists like Bollywood movies. Venkatesh was introduced by KKR in the UAE leg of the 2021 IPL. He was given a chance due to ordinary performances from the previous opening pair. He grabbed the opportunity with both hands and was fabulous in the UAE leg. His splendid performances in the UAE leg gave him a ticket to play for the Indian cricket team. He made his T20I debut for India against New Zealand in November 2021. His dream run continued in 2022 too as the batter made his ODI debut against South Africa in January 2022. He played for India as a batting all-rounder at number six but we can see him opening the innings with Alex Hales in April and May of 2022. 3. Shreyas Iyer Shreyas Iyer. (Photo Source: Twitter/IPL) Shreyas Iyer was KKR’s most expensive buy in the 2022 IPL mega auction. Shreyas is a captaincy material and has done well captaining Delhi Capitals for a few seasons. KKR are craving for a dependable captain after the departure of Gautam Gambhir and they have their captain for many coming seasons as Shreyas is in good form and playing continuously for the Indian cricket team. He has played 87 IPL games and has scored 2375 runs at an average of 31.67. He has played all his IPL cricket for Delhi Capitals. He has scored 16 fifties batting in the middle-order for the franchise. The right-hander was there in the DC squad from 2015 to 2021. KKR will want him to contribute in both batting and captaincy. 4. Nitish Rana Nitish Rana. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Nitish Rana is an important part of the core of Kolkata Knight Riders. He has played four seasons for Kolkata Knight Riders from 2018 to 2021 and KKR can give him the responsibility to give stability to their middle-order. Having a left-hand batter in the middle-order is a positive thing for any of the cricket teams in each format. Rana has all the gears that a T20 batter should have. The southpaw has played 77 IPL games and has scored 1820 runs. He has played some crucial knocks for Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders in winning cause. KKR have again shown faith in him and he will surely deliver for them. He can also bowl a little bit of off-spin if the team will need it. Having players like Nitish in the team is like securing the future of the franchise. 5. Sheldon Jackson (wk) Sheldon Jackson. (Photo Source: Instagram) Sheldon Jackson is a solid wicketkeeper-batter from Saurashtra. He was part of IPL from 2009 but he had to wait for a long time to make it to the playing 11. He made his IPL debut in 2017 playing for Kolkata and played four games for KKR in that season. Sheldon Jackson has been in the KKR squad for several seasons through the years. He was picked by KKR in the auction for the 2009 season. The keeper is playing domestic cricket since 2006 but he has not had so many good times in his career. Due to lack of opportunities, he decided to move to Puducherry from Saurashtra to play domestic cricket in 2020. However, he decided to come back to the Saurashtra side ahead of the 2021 domestic cricket season. The 2022 IPL season can be a breakthrough season for him. 6. Andre Russell Andre Russell. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) The true KKR star has been a prominent member of the Kolkata-based franchise for years. He joined the Knight Riders squad in 2014 after playing two seasons for Delhi Capitals. Since then, he has been the most important player for the franchise. His contribution to the franchise has been immense. He has won many games for the franchise single-handedly both with bat and ball. Andre Russell has played 84 IPL games and has scored 1700 runs at an average of 29.31. He bats with a strike rate of 178.57 which is a dream for many batters. He is one of the few players who hit sixes more than fours. Russell has hit 143 sixes and 119 fours in the IPL and is also very reliable with the ball in hand as he has picked 72 wickets in IPL at a superb bowling average of 26.04. 7. Sunil Narine Sunil Narine. (Photo Source: Twitter/Indian Premier League) Sunil Narine is one of the most successful spinners in the history of the Indian Premier League. He joined the Kolkata Knight Riders squad way back in 2012 and he has remained there till now. He has played 10 seasons for the KKR franchise and looks set to play many more. He has played many T20 leagues around the world and has experience of playing more than 300 T20 games which is a huge number. The Trinidad spinner has played 134 IPL games all for KKR. He has 143 wickets to his name at an unbelievable bowling average of 24.53. Narine’s career economy rate in IPL is 6.74, which is just extraordinary. Narine will have a huge role to play for the KKR side in the upcoming season. 8. Pat Cummins Pat Cummins. (Photo Source: IPl/BCCI) Pat Cummins will lead the KKR fast-bowling lineup in the 2022 IPL season. He has got a huge amount of experience playing top-level cricket. His experience will surely help the other young fast-bowler in the KKR squad a lot. He has been in the KKR squad for years now. He made his IPL debut for KKR against Chennai Super Kings in the 2014 season and was very impressive in his very first season. The Australian Test captain has played 37 IPL games and has picked 38 wickets. He has played 39 T20Is for Australia and has picked 44 wickets. He is currently one of the best fast bowlers in international cricket and is also a reliable batter in the lower middle-order. He has scored two fifties in IPL. He is currently serving as the captain of Australia in Test cricket and can be a part of KKR’s leadership group. 9. Shivam Mavi Shivam Mavi. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) The first thing that comes to our mind when we hear the name Shivam Mavi is his raw pace. Mavi impressed everyone during the 2018 U19 world cup where he took command of fast-bowling. He was a part of the winning Indian side in the 2018 World Cup. He was picked by KKR when he was playing in the tournament. Since then, he has played four seasons for KKR. He has played 26 IPL games and has taken 25 wickets. His career is very young and he has a lot more to achieve in the coming years. He has a good run-up and a clean and smooth traditional bowling action with an ability to click the 140 kph mark consistently while bowling. Alongside pace, he has developed the inswing and outswing balls through the years. 10. Umesh Yadav Umesh Yadav. (Photo Source: Instagram/umeshyaadav) Umesh Yadav is an important member of the Indian pace attack in international cricket. He is one of the fastest bowlers currently among all the fast bowlers in the country. He can bowl 140 kph regularly and he has clicked the 150 kph bar many times. He went unsold in the first two rounds during the auction but KKR decided to bid for him in the third round and added him to their squad. Having a quality Indian pacer like him for an IPL team is a bonus. Yadav has played 121 IPL games and has picked 119 wickets at a good bowling average of 30.08. He made his IPL debut way back in 2010 against CSK playing for Delhi. Apart from Delhi and Kolkata, he has also played for RCB in a few seasons. The pacer is coming back to the KKR side after three years. 11. Varun Chakaravarthy Varun Chakravarthy. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) The architect-turned-cricketer, Varun Chakravarthy, was unplayable in the last couple of IPL seasons. The mystery spinner is still a mystery for most of the batters in the tournament. Chakaravarthy is a fabulous 20-over bowler and takes a wicket whenever the team wants him to do so. He made his debut in domestic cricket for Tamil Nadu in the 2018 season. After having a great run in the domestic tournaments, he was picked by Punjab Kings ahead of the 2019 season of the IPL. In the IPL auction for the 2020 season, he got picked by the KKR franchise. He has played 31 IPL games and has picked 36 wickets at an incredible average of 23.31. He got retained by the KKR management before the 2022 IPL mega auction.

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