IPL Retention: Kolkata Knight Riders retain two players for 2018 season

It was surprising turn of events for the fans of the Kolkata Knight Riders on the day of IPL 2018 player retention. The 2018 edition of the Indian Premier League is quite some distance away. But the build up to the edition has already started considering the fact that a plethora of big names would get in to the auction pool yet again.

Ahead of the auctions, the IPL Governing Council had allowed the franchises to retain a maximum of 3 players. January 4, 2018 was set as the cut off date for the same. The teams were expected to roll out the names of their preferred choices for the auction. While most teams, like defending champions Mumbai Indians, opted to retain their core strength, Kolkata Knight Riders sprung a surprise.

The KKR franchise retained only two cricketers and both of them from the Caribbean Islands. They retained the services of hard hitting all-rounder Andre Russell. It is worth noting that Russell was not a part of the KKR team last year since he has been serving his ban of one year.

Russell was the second retention made by the KKR team for INR 8.5 crore. His league fee would be INR 7 crore. The first retention made the franchise was of the mystery spinner Sunil Narine. Narine has been an integral part of their setup for a long time now. He will receive a match fee of INR 8.5 crore and the franchise shelled out INR 12.5 crore to retain him.

No takers for Gautam Gambhir

The biggest headline in the Kolkata Knight Riders camp is no retention of their skipper Gautam Gambhir. Gambhir had led KKR to two title wins. Also, he had been one of the consistent run getters in the KKR camp. It was a poor last season in the IPL for the team that perhaps cost Gambhir a retention deal.

In any case, KKR have INR 59 crore left in their purse for the auctions. Also, they can use 3 Right to Match cards at the auctions now out of the three permissible ones. Perhaps they will use their RTM for Gambhir.

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