Looking for the best IPL predictions Kolkata Knight Riders Playing 11?
Read on.
The Kolkata Knight Riders failed to gather a balanced squad in the mega auction of IPL 2022.
They didn’t get a number of their first-choice players.
Their batting is looking a bit weak by adding a lot of all-rounders in their squad.
But KKR was able to buy Shreyas Iyer as their highest purchase to strengthen their batting.
Shreyas Iyer has now been appointed as the new skipper of the franchise.
Kolkata surprisingly finished as runners-up last season but this time the competition will be harder due to the addition of two new franchises.
Kolkata also added the likes of Pat Cummins and Nitish Rana into their squad for IND 7.25 and 8 crores respectively.
Sam Billings and Sheldon Jackson are the two front-line wicketkeepers of Kolkata.
The two-time champion team has also bought Ajinkya Rahane to add experience to their squad.
The fitness of Andrew Russell will be a big concern for them who was retained by the franchise before the auction.
Before Predicting the playing XI of Kolkata let’s take a look at their squad
KKR’s squad :
Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer, Pat Cummins, Ashok Sharma, Pratham Singh, Abhijeet Tomar, Sam Billings, Alex Hales, Ramesh Kumar, Mohammad Nabi, Aman Khan, Umesh Yadav, Nitish Rana, Shivam Mavi, Sheldon Jackson, Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Rasikh Dar, Chamika Karunaratne, Baba Indrajith,
Here is KKR’s most strongest playing XI for the IPL 2022.
Openers; Venkatesh and Finch
Venkatesh Iyer was retained by the franchise before the auction to use him as a regular opener in the side.
But the biggest question is who will open the innings alongside him?
Alex Hales was most likely to open with him but after his decision of pulling out from the IPL due to bio bubble fatigue, the Australian star Aaron Finch is added into the squad and he will most probably bat with Venkatesh at the top.
Kolkata also has some other options like Rahane, Billings, and Narine but at least in the first few matches, Venkatesh and Finch will open the innings for Kolkata.
Middle Order; Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, and Sam Billings
Shreyas Iyer will bat at no 3 followed by Nitish Rana and Sam Billings.
Shreyas has been announced as the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders for the IPL 2022 season.
The right-handed batsman has a great experience of leading an IPL team, as he led the Delhi Capitals franchise to the final in IPL season 2020.
Shreyas Iyer and Nitish Rana are good no 3 and 4 batters because they can not only score runs quickly at the top but also anchor the innings if couple of early wickets are lost.
The team management will face difficulty in choosing between these two but the English man Sam Billings is likely to play the fist fee games.
All-rounders; Russell, Narine and Cummins
There are some fitness concerns about Andre Russell and Sunil Narine, but both these West Indian players have managed to deliver for the side over the years.
The Australian Test skipper Pat Cummins is another all-round option for them.
Bowlers; Mavi, Yadav and Chakravarthy
Shivam Mavi, Umesh Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy will feature in the bowling department.
Umesh Yadav will support Pat Cummins with his bowling at the start.
The mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy was also retained by the franchise to strengthen their spin bowling department.
