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Dinesh-Karthik-Kuldeep-Yadav
Kolkata Knight Riders are likely to release two of their main players before the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League. The franchise has failed to make it to the playoffs for the past two seasons. KKR finished at fifth place in both 2019 and 2020. Henceforth, the franchise will release a few big stars from the squad before the deadline of 21st January. This step is to further improve team’s performance in the upcoming season.
Two great names, who have had a long association with the franchise, can be on their way out: Dinesh Karthik and Kuldeep Yadav. At present, the money balance left with the Knight Riders is INR 8.5 crore. Releasing Dinesh and Kuldeep can increase their compensation to INR 21.7 crore.
The Indian cricket board has already postponed the decision of adding two new teams to IPL 2022. Therefore, a mini-auction is going to be organized for IPL 2020. The buying limit for each IPL franchises is INR 85 crore. This can also help KKR in building a strong squad for the league. Kolkata Knight Riders had chosen Dinesh Karthik for 7.4 crores while Kuldeep Yadav was picked up for 5.8 crores.
Knight Riders not quite sure about retaining pacer Pat Cummins
Kuldeep and Dinesh haven’t added much value to KKR. Dinesh Karthik has played in all 14 matches and scored 169 runs. On the other hand, Yadav played only five matches and scalped one wicket. The former Indian wicket-keeper had also lost his captainship to England’s white-ball captain Eoin Morgan in the middle of the tournament. The franchise already has Tom Banton and talented Nikhil Naik as wicket-keeping options.
KKR are also studying the possibility of retaining the Australian pace sensation Pat Cummins. The fast bowler was the highest-paid foreigner in IPL 2020. The team signed him for 15.5 Crore. In the 13th edition of IPL, the pacer had failed to justify his bulky pay-check and emerged out to be a disappointment for the franchise. Also, the team management is not particular optimistic about the contracts of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine. Both players had flattened in the last edition of the league.