IPL 2021: 5 players KKR can target to fill their overseas slots in the auction

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are one of the most successful IPL franchises having lifted the trophy twice. However, they haven’t won the trophy since 2014 and after a 5th place-finish last season, they will be itching to put things right and build a title-winning squad.

KKR will have a purse of just Rs. 10.75 crores and have 8 available slots out of which two are for overseas players. They will have to utilize their budget efficiently as it won’t be an easy task to fill all the gaps in their squad with a rather modest budget at their disposal.

KKR currently have Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Tim Seifert as their overseas players and will look to buy another couple who would give their squad a more complete look. They could certainly do with backups for Russell and Narine and could also go for an overseas opener.

On that note, here’s a look at 5 overseas players KKR could target in the auction:

1. Tanveer Sangha

Tanveer Sangha was pretty much an unknown teenager before the start of this season’s Big Bash League, but an excellent campaign meant that the Sydney Thunder player is now a part of Australia’s T20I squad and he is surely going to be a target for a few of the IPL teams ahead of the auction. 

The 19-year-old picked up 21 wickets in 15 games at a strike rate of 13.5 and conceded runs at an economy 8.08. The Indian-origin leg-spinner was quite impressive in last year’s U19 World Cup where he got 15 wickets. 

Sunil Narine’s batting hasn’t been great over the last couple of seasons, and as a result, KKR have been using him predominantly as a bowler. However, his returns with the ball have also been poor in the last 2 seasons and hence, the franchise might want to bring in Sangha for some competition.