Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Probable Playing XI if only Indians play IPL 2020

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) is a team, which has banked a lot on its overseas recruits. The likes of Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and others have won them several matches in the Indian Premier League (IPL). For the 2020 season, they also picked up Australia’s Pat Cummins for INR 15.5 crores, making him the highest ever foreign buy, and Eoin Morgan, the 2019 World Cup winning England skipper.

But the Knights could well end up, playing without the overseas players. The coronavirus pandemic has made sure that travel restrictions have come to the fore. Hence, a tournament without the foreign names is also being contemplated, apart from hosting the games behind closed doors. If they don’t take part, it goes without saying that the KKR would be missing out on some serious firepower.

In the article, let’s take a look at the best KKR XI if the IPL is played with Indian players:-

1. Shubman Gill

There’s no doubting Shubman Gill’s talent. The Fazilka-born came up the ranks ever since the 2018 U19 World Cup in New Zealand where he got the Player of the Tournament award. Thereafter, he got into the Knights’ setup. In his maiden season, he batted lower down the order and scored a fifty.

But after he was promoted to open, Gill showed what he is capable off. He flayed bowling attacks with utmost ease. The youngster has a calm head on his shoulders and has shown his temperament across all formats. In the IPL, the 20-year-old Shubman averages a decent 33.27, striking at 132.36.

2. Rahul Tripathi

Rahul Tripathi made his IPL debut in 2017 for the Rising Pune Supergiant and impressed right away. He was one of the main reasons why Steve Smith and Co became the runners-up. He opened the batting and gave his team fast starts. His journey in the Rajasthan Royals was a tad different though.

In RR, he batted in the lower middle-order due to the presence of some star batsmen. In the odd instances when he opened, he didn’t flatter to deceive. Ahead of the 2020 edition, the Royals released him and he went to KKR. He averages 26.14 in the IPL with a decent strike-rate of 137.32

3. Siddhesh Lad

Siddhesh Lad’s fortune closed its eyes on him for five seasons. In the end, after an agonising wait, he made his IPL debut last year for the Mumbai Indians (MI). He replaced skipper Rohit Sharma, who was injured, and opened the batting. The 28-year-old scored 15 with a four and six before perishing.

Once Rohit returned, Lad again had to go back to the benches. Ahead of the 2020 season, MI released him and the Knight secured his services. If the IPL goes ahead with only Indian players, there’s a good chance that he will play most of the encounters, being one of the most experienced.

4. Nitish Rana

Nitish Rana played a couple of seasons for the Mumbai franchise and did his job efficiently in the middle order. But to the surprise of many, Rohit’s men let him go ahead of the 2018 season. Subsequently, the Knight Riders picked him up and he has been a bedrock of their middle order.

Having scored over 1,000 runs in the T20 tournament, he has a truckload of experience. Along with eight fifties, he is also more than a handy option with his off-breaks. In 2018, he dismissed the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. He can play the spinners and fast bowlers, with equal efficiency.

5. Dinesh Karthik (C & WK)

Dinesh Karthik has been doing the rounds in the IPL since the inaugural season. After playing for quite a few teams, he moved to the Knight Riders. He had a massive task at hand as he was expected to fill in the boots of Gautam Gambhir, who captained KKR to glory in 2012 and 2014 respectively.

In 2018, he performed with the bat and also took the team to the Qualifier 2 where they lost to the SRH. In the last season, he had a tough time as he foundered as a batter as well as the skipper. Going into the next edition, the IPL team restored faith in him and retained him as the captain.

6. Rinku Singh

Rinku Singh has been with the Knight Riders since the 2018 edition of the tournament. However, he hasn’t gotten a whole lot of chances in the playing eleven. He doesn’t have impressive numbers to show for his efforts either. Even in domestic T20s, Singh has a fair distance to travel to make a name.

But having scored nearly 3,000 runs, combining first-class and List A cricket, the Uttar Pradesh-born knows the art of scoring. In case the foreign players don’t play, Singh can play a more vital role in the eleven. With five centuries and 22 fifties, the Young Turk from Aligarh has the potential to shine.

7. Shivam Mavi

Shivam Mavi cranked up the speedometre in the 2018 U19 World Cup along with fellow paceman Kamlesh Nagarkoti. The spells of bowling caught the eyes of the IPL franchises and the Knights later added him to the pace armoury. In his debut season, the speedster bowled with pace and venom.

But in that season, he could manage only five wickets and leaked runs at an economy rate of 9.64. The rub of the green didn’t go in Mavi’s favour either in 2019. He was ruled out of the tournament. Nevertheless, he has made a comeback and must be raring to don the Knight Riders’ jersey again.

8. Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav has been one of KKR’s key spinners for the last few seasons. Bearing in mind the X-factor he brings in, the opponents have never dropped their guard against him.  In the three years or so, he along with Yuzvendra Chahal, has tormented a number of batters, playing for Team India.

In 40 IPL matches, Kuldeep has gotten 39 wickets at an economy of 8.33. But in the last edition of the T20 tournament, he didn’t find it easy. After being taken for plenty, he was dropped from the playing eleven. However, given the talent he has, it’s a matter of time before he finds his rhythm.

9. Prasidh Krishna

Prasidh Krishna, the Karnataka fast bowler, came into the Knights as an injury replacement back in 2018. In that season, he did reasonably well, being a youngster. But the previous season become a kind of nightmare for him. The 24-year-old went for runs and couldn’t make breakthroughs either.

But Prasidh made a strong comeback in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, picking up wickets at regular intervals , including a five-wicket haul against Saurashtra in Bengaluru. He got a couple of four-wicket hauls in the Ranji Trophy as well. Hence, it can be said that Prasidh is well and truly in shape.

10. Sandeep Warrier

Sandeep Warrier, the Kerala fast bowler, made his IPL debut last year for the Knights in the match against Mumbai at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. In three matches, the right-arm seamer could only get a couple of wickets. But his economy of 7.08 was far better than most of his teammates.

It wasn’t much of a surprise that he was retained by the franchise. The 29-year-old was previously with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) where he didn’t get to play a single game. He was recently a part of India A in the tour of New Zealand and picked up five wickets from four games.

11. Varun Chakravarthy

For the 2019 edition, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) shelled out INR 8.40 crores for Varun Chakravarthy. But he played only a single game against KKR where Sunil Narine picked the bones out of him in the batting powerplay. The 28-year-old mystery off-spinner didn’t get a chance from there onwards.

Punjab released him off his services and then KKR shelled out a stunning INR 4 crore for the tweaker. Chakravarthy came into the limelight in the 2018 Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL). He doesn’t have a whole lot of experience, playing only one first-class, nine List A and a solitary T20 match.