IPL 2019: KKR seeks fans' suggestions prior to auction; gets enthusiastic response

The franchise’s fans suggested two names to be included in the squad.

Published - 12 Dec 2018, 10:59 IST | Updated - 12 Dec 2018, 10:59 IST

View : 3K

2 Min Read

The auction for the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is just a week away and all franchises are taking their last-minute preparations before going ahead to seal the best possible deal. Former champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), co-owned by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, has taken a unique initiative ahead of the auction by inviting the fans to make suggestions about players that the franchise should tap for the 2019 season starting in March.

The KKR sought the enthusiastic fans’ engagement by posting a tweet seeking their suggestion. The tweet also questions asked in Bengali to relate better with the supporters of the two-time champions and responses came up in huge numbers. While KKR retained national players like Dinesh Karthik who took over the captaincy from Gautam Gambhir last year, Kuldeep Yadav and Piyush Chawla, it also kept foreigners like Andre Russell, Chris Lynn, and Sunil Narine. Among the two big players who were released are current and former Australian quicks – Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson, respectively.

Suggestion to bring back Brendon McCullum

The franchise’s fans suggested two names to be included in the squad and they are Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami and veteran South African pacer Dale Steyn. Some other suggested to go for former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum who once played for the same franchise and had slammed a big unbeaten hundred in the tournament’s very first game in 2008. McCullum was also the captain of the KKR in the 2009 season. Other suggestions included Aussie all-rounder Moises Henriques.

Only 7⃣ days left for the #IPLAuction in Jaipur! 😍
Who should we pick? কাকে কেনা উচিত?
Who fits our squad? কাকে আমাদের দরকার?
Your opinion matters, so we've got a number of posts coming up seeking your suggestions. আমরা জানতে চাই আপনারা কি চান!
Stay tuned! 💜#KorboLorboJeetbo pic.twitter.com/Hz3CzuhYEr
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) December 11, 2018

Mohammad Sami, Dale Stayn pic.twitter.com/4GS7Ub9guh
— Afraj Sardar (@afraj3232) December 11, 2018

I think we r going with shimron hetmeyer 👍 @KKRiders
— Sourabh Chaturvedi (@SourabhChatur14) December 11, 2018

Nicholas Pooran, Oshane Thomas & Jaydev Unadkat. @KKRiders #KorboLorboJeetbo
— Rohan Guha (@imRohanOfficial) December 11, 2018

Pls pick @YUVSTRONG12
Yuvi will be best for middle order for KKR
— Sohel SRKIAN ᶻᵉʳᵒ ᶜʰʳⁱˢᵗᵐᵃˢ ²⁰¹⁸ (@IamSoHelll) December 11, 2018

Sam Curran,Ishan Porel,MD Shami,Chris Woakes,Joe Root,Hetmyer.
— Soumen pattanayak (@iam_pattanayak) December 11, 2018

Axar patel, w saha, shami,
— jayaram ayol (@jayaram_ayol) December 11, 2018

Go for Sam Curran, Ali Khan & Anrich Nortje because we don't have any foreigner fast bowler.#KorboLorboJeetbo
— Aman Asthana (@iamanasthana) December 11, 2018

Batsmen – B. McCullum & Reeza Hendricks
All rounder – Moises Henriques
Bowlers(✈) – Sam Curran, Ali Khan/ Anrich Nortje
Bowler (Indian) – Md. Shami#KorboLorboJeetbo #IPLAuction
— Aman Asthana (@iamanasthana) December 11, 2018

Yuvraj singh
— sanjay don (@sanjayboobathy) December 11, 2018

Oshane thomas,dale steyn or lockie Ferguson.martin guptill backup of lynn and pick indian experienced bowler j unadkat or mohd shami.
— AʀSɭʌŋ ĸʜAŋ (@Arslankhan_pti) December 11, 2018

@DaleSteyn62 , Oshane Thomas (for bowling poweres)
A handy all-rounder from India
Buy Alex Hale's or Nicolas pooran because Chris Lynn might get unavailable
— Sokrelle (@grabty1) December 11, 2018

We are eagerly for the #IPLAuction 2018.. I prefer the following list of players.
INDIAN – Md.Shami , Axar patel
OVERSEAS – Bd.McCullum,S.hetmyer/Nicholas poornan, Dale Steyn, Moises Henriques/Chris Woakes
Looking forward for third IPL title #korbolorbojeetbo
— Soumajit Choudhuri (@SoumajitChoudh2) December 12, 2018

Bring back #Gambhir as mentor , first. Then buy md. Shami ,vohra, henriques , tom or sam curren. Yuvraj singh, unadkut, w.saha,monoj
— saikat chatterjee (@saikatsonaiCH) December 12, 2018

Yuvraj Singh Mohammad shami b
— Anwar Abdul Kadar Khan (@anwar_kadar) December 11, 2018

Corey Anderson
— satyabrat (@HSB_Pradhan) December 11, 2018

Buy
1. Brendon McCullum or Martin Guptill
2. Dale steyn
3. Mohammad Shami
4. One Left Handed Fast Bowler
5. a good Middle order batsman…
Don't buy any spinners,
Bcz we have quality spinners like Mulder,Narine,Piyush.
— Zero on 21st December,2018. (@shahienoor) December 11, 2018

The KKR had a torrid beginning to the IPL a decade ago and had all sorts of problems in the first three seasons in which they failed to qualify in the top four. After two years of captaincy by former India captain Sourav Ganguly and one year by McCullum, KKR roped in Gambhir and he gave the side major success by guiding them to title wins on two occasions (2012 and 2014). Last year, Gambhir was replaced by Karthik and he did fairly well to lead the side, which ended up third in the tournament.

[interaction id=”5c0d233cfc61dd68e82ab7d3″]