The Kolkata Knight Riders is no unknown team for any of us Indian. KKR Team 2023 is also known to us by its owners, they are India’s and World’s favorite actor the king khan Mr.Sharukh Khan, Juhi Chawla and her husband.
The only team other than Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings that has won more than one title in the Indian Premier League is Kolkata Knight Riders.
The team is owned by Red Chillies Entertainment which is an enterprise of one of the most loved Hindi Cinema Actors, Shahrukh Khan.
The team of KKR gets all the love showered for him, former captain Saurav Ganguly, and their skipper who led them to two titles, Gautam Gambhir.
The reputation that the team has built over the years is of an above-average performer who has good and bad days but still manages to excel.
The last season in 2022 was a bad one for KKR and its fans. Not only they failed to qualify, but also, they ended up being placed in the 7th position of the points table.
KKR is one of the best teams and a team who has fans worldwide.
Last season they almost took home the trophy but sadly lost to very small score of 27 runs to Chennai Super Kings.
KKR Team 2023: Highlights
Name of the Team | Kolkata Knight Riders KKR |
Represents | Kolkata, West Bengal |
Owned By | Red Chillies Entertainment |
Owner | Shahrukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, and Jay Mehta |
Chief Executive Officer | Venky Mysore |
Founded On | 2008 |
Home Ground | Eden Gardens, Kolkata |
Team Manager | Wayne Bentley |
Mentor | David Hussey |
Head Coach | Chandrakant Pandit |
Assistant Coach | Abhishek Nayar |
Balling Coach | Bharat Arun |
Assistant Bowling coach | Omkar Salvi |
Fielding Coach | Ryan ten Doeschate |
Captain | Shreyas Iyer |
Seasons Played | 15: 2008 – 2022 |
Titles Won | 2: 2012 and 2014 |
Colour | Purple, Black, and Golden |
Kit Manufacturer | Wrogn |
Kolkata IPL 2023 Retained and Released Players
KKR has retained their core with Shreyas Iyer, Sunil Naraine, Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Rinku Singh, and a few more.
They have traded in Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz to make their limited squad stronger.
It was very astonishing how KKR released nearly a dozen of players including Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Mohammad Nabi, Anjikye Rahane, Alex Hales, Sam Billings, Sheldon Jackson, and Aron Finch.
With so many legendary releases, Kolkata has relieved itself from the pressures of benching many capable players throughout the season. It is evident that they seek to create a limited team with maximum strength.
Kolkata Knight Riders Players for IPL 16th Edition
The Team of Kolkata looks like this ahead of the Mini Auction for IPL 2023:
S.No. | Player | Role | Nationality | Team Inclusion |
1. | Shreyas Iyer | Captain Right Handed Batsman | Indian | Retained |
2. | Andre Russell | Right Handed Batsman All Rounder Right Arm Fast Bowler | West Indian | Retained |
3. | Nitish Rana | Left Handed Batsman | Indian | Retained |
4. | Venkatesh Iyer | Left Handed Batsman All Rounder Right Arm Medium Bowler | Indian | Retained |
5. | Sunil Narine | Left-Handed Batsman All-Rounder with Right-Arm Off Spin | Trinidadian | Retained |
6. | Umesh Yadav | Right Arm Fast Bowler | Indian | Retained |
7. | Tim Southee | Right Handed Batsman All Rounder Right-Arm Fast-Medium Bowler | New Zealand | Retained |
8. | Harshit Rana | Right Arm Fast-Medium Bowler | Indian | Retained |
9. | Varun Chakravarthy | Right Arm Leg Break Bowler | Indian | Retained |
10. | Anukul Roy | Left-Handed Batsman All-Rounder Left-Arm Orthodox Bowler | Indian | Retained |
11. | Rinku Singh | Left Handed Batsman | Indian | Retained |
12. | Shardul Thakur | Right-Arm Fast-Medium Bowler | Indian | Traded |
13. | Rahmanullah Gurbaz | Right Handed Wicketkeeping Batsman | Afghanistani | Traded |
14. | Lockie Ferguson | Right Arm Fast-Medium Bowler | New Zealand | Traded |
15. | Rahmanullah Gurbaz | Right Hand Batsmen | Afgh | Bought in Auction |
16. | David Wiese | All Rounder Right Hand batsmen and Right Arm Fast Bowler | S.A | Bought in Auction |
17 | Kulwant Khejroliya | Left Arm Fast Bowler | Indian | Bought in Auction |
18. | Suyash Sharma | Right Hand Leg Spin Bowler | Indian | Bought in Auction |
19. | Lockie Ferguson | Right Arm Fast Bowler | NZ | Bought in Auction |
20. | Shardul Thakur | Right Arm Fast Bowler | Indian | Bought in Auction |
21. | Vaibhav Arora | Bowler | Indian | Bought in Auction |
22. | Narayan Jagadeesan | W/K Right Hand Batsmen | Indian | Bought in Auction |
23. | Litton Das | Right Hand Batsmen | Bang | Bought in Auction |
24. | Mandeep Singh | Right Hand batsmen | Indian | Bought in Auction |
25. | Shakib Al Hasan | All Rounder Left Hand batsmen and Left Arm Off Spinner | Bang | Bought in Auction |
Kolkata IPL Team Predictions and Analysis for 2023
KKR has let go of a majority of players and spent a great deal of amount on trades. They have focused on bringing in quality players than overcrowding their squad and creating multiple options.
This does not seem like a very bad strategy. Kolkata has strong batters like Shreyas Iyer, Sunil Naraine, Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
With power-hitting players like Andre Russell and Tim Southee, the finishing that is required for T20 Cricket also seems to have found a particular direction.
Kolkata has a decent spin bowling attack prominently led by Sunil Naraine and Varun Chakravarthy.
Additionally, with Lockie Ferguson adding his speed and Shardul Thakur’s special Nuckle balls it seems that the Fast Bowling Department which entirely was dependent on Umesh Yadav and Andre Russell has gained a lethal form.
They have strong batters, bowlers, fielders, all-rounders, and a capable captain. The only thing they miss is the availability of similarly strong options!
KKR Team 2023 Social Media Handles
Official Website | Kolkata Knight Riders |
Facebook Page | KolkataKnightRiders |
Twitter Handle | KKRiders |
Instagram Account | kkriders |
KKR Team 2023
This time KKR Team 2023 has used up the 4 slots for retaining players and retained their best 4 players. In T20, KKR have the longest winning streak compared to any other Indian team.
The KKR Team 2023 Players List who has been retained consist of their two main assets Andre Russel and Sunil Narine.
Alongside them Venkatesh Iyer and Varun Chakravarthy also has been retained by the team based on their outstanding performance.
In this article, we’ll be talking about the new players, their price, players who were retained and their price and finally upcoming match fixtures.
The KKR team 2023 player list with price will mentioned below along with the retained players. KKR Team 2023 has bought 21 players from the mega auction held.
This buy includes 4 key players too such as Shreyas Iyer, Pat Cummins, Nitish Rana and Umesh Yadav.
Also read – Mumbai Indians Team 2023 Players lists, Retained Players
They Spend around Rs.34 Crore to retain the 4 players they wanted. They also had Rs.48 Crore in their pockets for the auction.
The Retained players list and price as follows:
Sl.No | Names | Sell Price |
1. | Andre Russell | 12 Crores |
2. | Varun Charavarthy | 8 Crores |
3. | Venkatesh Iyer | 8 Crores |
4. | Sunil Narine | 6 Crores |
The KKR team 2023 Players List after Auction will be all the 25 players mentioned above. This will be new team IPL this season.
KKR team new players list consist of some amazing talents. I will be mentioned their records and score in the next paragraphs.
The retained players as you all know have made their mark in the team and hence they have been retained, but there are some outstanding extra few players who have joined the KKR Team 2023 from the auction for this year’s IPL Tournament.
- Andre Russell – was a player retained by the KKR Team 2023 for Rs.12 Crore. As we all know that Andre is a hard working player and is someone who manages to achieve more records and scores each time he enters the ground. Andre is from Jamaica and made his ODI debut in 2011 world cup against Ireland. He has been in the team since 2014. It’s not just his batting ability that amazed people; in 2016 he won 2 Man of the Match awards for his bowling. He managed to take 15 wickets that season even though his run rate was low. The records he has made is a long list and remarkable. We could go on and on but we are ending it with one more of his achievement. In 2018 , when he came back to IPL after his 1 year ban from the game, Russell took a score of 300 runs and more than 13 wickets that season making his mark once again after a year break.
- Shreyas Iyer – was bought from the auction as the highest paid player on the team for Rs.12.25 Crore and he was also made the KKR Team 2023 Captain for this year’s IPL Tournament. Shreyas was noticed at a very young age probably not even in his teens when he was spotted timing strokes against pacers twice his age and height. He scored a 297 runs in 3 innings at a Bradman-esque with an average rate of 99. Because of his strike rating he was even being compared to the legends like Virender Sehwag for his fearless stroke-play. Shreyas was the highest earning uncapped player of the 2015 auction. In 2017 he scored 336 runs with the highest score rate of 96 and in 2018 proved to be consistent throughtout the season earning him the captaincy of delhi team after Gautam Gambhir dropped himself from the team.
- Venkatesh Iyer – was also one of the retained player for the team for Rs.8 Crores. Venkatesh made his debut last year were he scored 370 runs and took 3 wickets in 10 games last season. He was last year’s IPL surprise making his way through KKR with his powerful batting rampage against some of the world’s finest bowlers.
Final Words
We believe that with these years power packed team for the Kolkata Knight Riders, they have an amazing chance to win this year’s IPL Trophy and take it home.
With Key and major players like Andre Russell, Shreyas Iyer, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Pat Cummins, Nitish Rana and Umesh Yadav, the KKR has set their way to hit the road for glory.