IPL 2020: 3 players who can lead Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Dinesh Karthik’s absence

During 2018 IPL, the first-ever season under Dinesh Karthik, Kolkata knight Riders had a memorable outing having finished third after losing Qualifier-2 against Sunrisers Hyderabad for a place in the summit clash. But the two-time IPL champion’s fortunes changed last year as they failed to make the playoffs for the first time since season eight having finished fifth despite being on-par with the fourth-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad and sixth-placed Kings XI Punjab in terms of points (12 each).

Having agonizingly missed out on the playoffs spot due to net run-rate in season twelve, the Shaw Rukh Khan co-owned franchise bolstered its squad at the 2020 IPL Auction held at Kolkata on December 19^th. Having made quality domestic as well overseas signings like Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy, Eoin Morgan, Tom Banton and Pat Cummins, the squad looks formidable going into 2020 edition of the IPL.

Though Dinesh Karthik is all set to lead the side for the third consecutive season, let us look at three players who can lead KKR if he misses out due to injury or some other reasons during 2020 IPL.

Here are the three players:

3. Sunil Narine

Sunil Narine joined Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of their victorious 2012 IPL campaign. The mystery spinner who is known for tormenting batsmen with his spin-web has been equally exceptional as an opening batsman for KKR- the role he assumed during the tenth edition of the league under the 2012 and 2014 IPL winning skipper Gautam Gambhir who believed in Narine’s big-hitting abilities.

In the last three IPL seasons, the 31-year-old amassed 224 (2017), 357 (2018) and 143 (2019) runs at strike-rates of 172.30, 189.89 and 166.27 respectively. The vastly experienced T20 campaigner who has played for several teams in various T20 leagues across the globe has been an indispensable member of the Kolkata-based franchise since joining them in season five.

With 122 wickets at an economy of just 6.67, Narine has been one of the top performers in the cash-rich Indian Premier League. Given his experience and long association with Kolkata Knight Riders, it wouldn’t be a surprise to witness the Trinidad and Tobago spinner walking onto the pitch for the toss in case regular skipper misses out from the XI due to unavoidable circumstances.