IPL Auction 2022, Kolkata Knight Riders review: Possible best XI, strengths and weaknesses

Kolkata Knight Riders made the first big move at the Indian Premier League 2022 mega auction when they picked up Shreyas Iyer. The 27-year-old was looked at as one of the hottest picks heading into the auction and KKR made a statement by securing him early on day one.

The two-time IPL champions then retained Pat Cummins for a significant pay cut at Rs 7.25 crore to cap off an impressive outing in the marquee set first up. But just as things were starting to look up for them, they went on to make some rather strange decisions through the rest of the auction.

IPL Auction 2022: From Kishan and Iyer to Chahar and Archer – full list of players signed by teams

Kolkata retained Nitish Rana and Shivam Mavi for what could be considered an extravagant amount of Rs 15.25 crore in total. And it wasn’t until the final stages of the auction on day two that they picked up the likes of Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Alex Hales and Sam Billings – all of whom could possibly be constant features in IPL 2022.

At the end of it all, though, coach Brendon McCullum was satisfied with how the auction went for the Knight Riders.

“We were able to secure a team which we were pretty happy with,” McCullum told SENZ Breakfast.

He added: “There was a couple of players I was really gutted we didn’t get a hold of and there were a lot of players I was gutted we couldn’t even raise a bid for. The problem is you’ve got to hold your money for some of those who you’ve really prioritised... In the end I’m happy because I think we’ve got a really good squad on paper. Our first eleven is very strong. I think our international bench strength is very, very good.”

Possible best playing XI

Andre Russell (Rs 12 crore), Varun Chakravarthy (Rs 8 crore), Venkatesh Iyer (Rs 8 crore) and Sunil Narine (Rs 6 crore) were the four players rained by Kolkata Knight Riders prior to the auction. They filled their full quota of 25 players, with Rs 45 lakh remaining in their purse at the end.

Kolkata are yet to announce who will captain the side in IPL 2022, but it’s safe to say that Shreyas Iyer and Pat Cummins are the frontrunners for the job.

Strengths

Shreyas Iyer and Pat Cummins are undoubtedly excellent additions to the squad. Both are captaincy material and regulars in international cricket. Iyer spent a considerable amount of time away from the game last year due to a shoulder injury but he’s back scoring runs in the Indian team now and will be eager to prove a point or two.

In fact, if it wasn’t for that injury he may well have still been leading Delhi Capitals as of today. He led DC to the IPL 2020 final and was a consistent performer for them. But his injury allowed Rishabh Pant to take over as skipper and Delhi decided to stick with keeper-bat as leader. That worked out well for KKR, though. They weren’t keen on continuing with Eoin Morgan and in Iyer, they now have a long-term captaincy option.

Cummins, on the other hand, is high on confidence after leading Australia to a thumping Ashes win in his first International assignment as captain. He remains one of the finest fast bowlers in the world and can be more than useful with the lower down the order with the bat. Even if his IPL or T20I record is not the most awe-inspiring there is no doubting the quality.

However, Kolkata’s real strength was always their set of retained players, which was arguably the best among all teams (provided they are fit). Russell is still one of the most dangerous T20 batters, Narine is a world class all-rounder and an IPL great, while Venkatesh Iyer and Varun Chakravarthy are two of the most promising T20 players in India who are coming in on the back of impressive campaigns last year.

Throw Shreyas Iyer and Cummins into this mix and KKR have six sure-shot match-winners in their ranks.

Weaknesses

One of the most interesting period during the IPL 2022 auction was the bidding war for Nicholas Pooran. Sunrisers Hyderabad and KKR were tussling for the West Indies keeper-bat and it was the former who got him for a whopping Rs 10.75 crore.

This put KKR in a fix (actually, could have been in a bigger fix too, if they got Pooran). The number of quality wicketkeeper batters wasn’t high anyway and Pooran was the last name in the set. Kolkata had roped in Sheldon Jackson on day one but they had to find backup. They eventually got Billings towards the end but wicketkeeping is still a concern for them as there is no real big name to own this slot.

With Billings and Jackson (and maybe Baba Indrajith) the wicketkeeping options, it seems there are two choices left for KKR. They either open with Ajinkya Rahane and use Billings in the middle order, or play Alex Hales at the top and slot Jackson / Indrajith in as keeper in the middle order.

Rahane has done well batting in the powerplay in the past and Billings will provide more firepower in the middle order. But on the other hand, Hales has shone in the Big Bash League and Pakistan Super League recently and could be a game-changer at the top. Hales’ current form Rahane’s lack of form in recent years makes the Billings-Jackson wicketkeeping tossup all the more interesting.

Another area of concern for KKR is the possible over dependence on Shivam Mavi and Umesh Yadav. Kolkata obviously trust Mavi greatly and spent a big amount on him, but Umesh was one of the last picks in the entire auction. Together, they may have to take a great deal of responsibility as the two prominent Indian fast bowlers in the squad.

And quite who bowls at the death for them consistently... it’s up in the air too. Is Narine their best option to bowl overs 18/19 or so? Do they really think Russell can handle the bowling load? Too many questions there as well.

But perhaps the biggest worry for them will the dependence on a few core players who are also injury prone.

Who’s saying what

KKR CEO Venky Mysore: “To get back Pat Cummins at that price. We thought that he would go higher. So, very, very delighted with that. Shreyas Iyer is a quality Indian player at the top of the order. It is sort of very, very long-term in terms of our thinking. As far as captaincy, I think that’s a decision that coach and think-tank will take. Between Cummins and Shreyas, we have got two solid options.”