IPL 2022: List of players released by Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders, the runners-up of the 2021 Indian Premier League, have got the ball rolling ahead of the upcoming edition of the T20 tournament. The two-time IPL champions have retained four players- Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer and Varun Chakravarthy – ahead of the mega auction to take place earlier next year.

Russell was one of their star performers in 2019, but he failed to replicate his performances in the 2020 and 2021 edition of the IPL. While has he been fairly comfortable on Indian pitches, the tracks in the UAE haven’t brought the best out of him. With the IPL set to return to India, the Jamaican is expected to make a greater impact, both with bat and ball.

Sunil Narine has been with them for a decade and the Knights have continued showing faith in him despite the all-rounder not being at his very best. Varun Chakravarthy has been a revelation for them over the last two seasons. But it’s Venkatesh Iyer, who has grabbed the limelight after making his IPL debut in the second leg of the 2021 edition.

Quite a few big releases from the Kolkata Knight Riders

The Men in Gold and Purple have let go a number of their big names. When he joined in 2018, Shubman Gill was deemed as a bright prospect, but the Knights didn’t persist with him. They also released the pace duo of Lockie Ferguson and Pat Cummins. They didn’t retain Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi either.

Dinesh Karthik, Eoin Morgan and Kuldeep Yadav were three of their biggest non-retentions. It was Morgan, who led KKR to the IPL 2021 final against Chennai Super Kings. Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi didn’t find a place in the retentions as well. Veteran Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan will also be going into the auction.

Released players by Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of IPL 2022

Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan, Karun Nair, Nitish Rana, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Shakib Al Hasan, Ben Cutting, Pawan Negi, Shivam Mavi, Dinesh Karthik, Sheldon Jackson, Tim Seifert, Harbhajan Singh, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Vaibhav Arora, Tim Southee, Pat Cummins

Purse remaining- 48 Crore