IPL Auction 2023: Kolkata Knight Riders Retained and Released Players with remaining Purse Value

IPL Auction 2023: The preparation for the next edition of the Indian Premier League is all set to start very soon for all teams. The trading window of the 2023 auction ended on Tuesday, November 15, with all teams retaining and releasing players for the next season. Thus, the released players will be under the hammer in the upcoming auction, which will take place on December 23 in Kochi. The two-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders were seen very busy ahead of the auction.

KKR was among the teams that did a lot of chopping and changing within their team. They signed Gujarat’s Lockie Ferguson and Rahmanullah Gurbaz to their team. Another big name that they added to their lineup was star Indian pace bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur, who represented DC in the last edition. DC signed Thakur for a whopping price of INR 10 crore.

IPL Auction 2023: Retained players for KKR

Shreyas Iyer will be seen back in action as the captain of the team in the upcoming auction. Apart from him, KKR has retained those players who have been part of the team for the last few seasons. The dangerous West Indian duo of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine were the obvious retentions. While the team has shown trust in Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, and Varun Chakravarthy as well.

Two pacers that impressed in the last season were Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee. Hence, they are also in the team. Instead retaining from their team, they have traded players from other teams. In total, KKR has retained 11 players and three trades make their tally to 14.

KKR finished the last season at 7th place. Hence, they will look to do better this time around. The franchise didn’t look settled in IPL 2022, but retaining their core players reflects that they are looking to build their teams around the selected players only.

Retained Players: Shreyas Iyer (c), Andre Russell, Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy

IPL Auction 2023: Released Players for KKR

KKR has released a total of 15 players ahead of the auction. The likes of Pat Cummins, Sam Billings, and Alex Hales decided to opt out of the next season for personal reasons and country commitments. Thus, the franchises traded a few players from other teams. Apart from these, they have also released the likes of Aaron Finch, Mohammad Nabi, and Chamika Karunaratne.

Speaking of the Indian uncapped players, they have released Baba Indrajith, Sheldon Jackson, Ashok Sharma, Ramesh Kumar, and Rasikh Salam. One release that surprised many was young pacer Shivam Mavi, who KKR spent INR 8 crore on in the previous auction and has now been released. Former Indian Test captain Ajinkya Rahane also couldn’t find his place in the team.

Released Players: Pat Cummins, Sam Billings,  Aaron Finch, Alex Hales, Aman Khan, Shivam Mavi, Ajinkya Rahane, Mohammad Nabi, Chamika Karunaratne, Abhijeet Tomar, Ashok Sharma, Baba Indrajith, Pratham Singh, Rasikh Salam, Sheldon Jackson, Ramesh Kumar

Remaining Purse Value for Kolkata Knight Riders

KKR is left with the lowest purse value ahead of the auction, which is INR 7.05 crore. With this amount, KKR needs to find a good opener and a backup keeper. Because Hales, Finch, and Rahane are not available to open while Billings and Jackson are also released.

Team Wise Retained Players List of IPL Teams