IPL 2023: Kolkata Knight Riders, Squad analysis – All you need to know

Kolkata Knight Riders will begin their IPL 2023 campaign against Punjab Kings at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali on 1st April. KKR had added players like Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das, and David Wiese in the IPL 2023 auction.

Kolkata had failed to qualify for the playoff stages in the previous season and they would look to turn the tables in the upcoming season. KKR had lost a few matches by a close margin in the last edition and they would aim to win the crucial stages of their matches in the tournament.

It has been reported that Shreyas Iyer might undergo a back injury and he could go on to miss the upcoming edition, which will be a big blow to KKR.

Strengths:

KKR have plenty of all-rounders in their squad and if they can contribute with both bat and ball, then it will give them a huge advantage. They have players like Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, David Wiese, Shakib Al Hasan, and Venkatesh Iyer and they all would hold the key for them. They also have a decent fast bowling unit as they have bowlers like Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, and Lockie Ferguson.

Weaknesses:

There isn’t enough firepower for KKR in the batting order, be it either top or middle. There aren’t many experienced and specialist batters in their squad and it could lead to their downfall in the upcoming show.

KKR PROBABLE PLAYING XI: N. Jagadeesan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Rinku Singh, Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, Umesh Yadav, Lockie Ferguson.

KKR IPL 2023 SQUAD

Wicketkeepers: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (AFG), N. Jagadeesan, Litton Das (BAN).

Batters: Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Mandeep Singh.

All-rounders: Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Andre Russel (WI), Shardul Thakur, Shakib Al Hasan (BAN), David Wiese (NAM).

Bowlers: Lockie Ferguson (NZ), Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine (WI), Tim Southee (NZ), Varun Chakravarthy, Umesh Yadav, Suyash Sharma, Vaibhav Arora, Kulwant Khejroliya.