Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Retained Players List, Auction, Squad, Schedule, Venue IPL 2023

About Kolkata Knight Riders Team (KKR)

Kolkata Knight Riders have won 2 IPL titles in 2012 and 2014 and both came under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir, who is currently the mentor of Lucknow Super Giants.

They reached the final in the 2021 season but lost to CSK. Batsman Nitish Rana will lead the KKR side in the absence of Shreyas Iyer who will miss the season due to injury. KKR performed decently in the last season, missed the playoff qualification by a small margin.

Kolkata Knight Riders Team Information

After the last season, former KKR coach Brendon McCullum was appointed as the England Test team coach and Chandrakant Pandit replaced him in August. Nitish Rana and Chandrakant Pandit’s partnership will certainly bring in a new approach in the KKR’s gameplay.

KKR will begin this year’s campaign against Punjab Kings on 1st April at PCA Stadium in Mohali.

KKR has released Pat Cummins, Alex Hales, Mohammad Nabi and many more after the last season. Cummins was released due to his non-availability for the season as he has a hectic schedule this year due to ICC World Cup and Ashes.

Among the retention list, you will find some of the KKR’s key players like Shreyas Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana. Both the West Indies players Russell and Narine are associated with the team from a long time.

In the auction, KKR bought Shakib Al Hasan, David Wiese and Litton Das among the overseas players. This will be Das’ first ever IPL outing and he has been quite impressive in the T20 format as a top-order batsman.

Kolkata Knight Riders Retained Players IPL 2023

KKR had an average season in the IPL 2022. They appointed Shreyas Iyer as the captain who had a decent season but overall the team couldn’t proceed to the playoffs. They finished at the 7th spot with 6 wins out of 14 matches.

We will see a big transition in the KKR side as the team has released some big names like Aaron Finch, Pat Cummins, Alex Hales, Sam Billings and Mohammad Nabi.

KKR has traded in Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Lockie Ferguson from Gujarat Titans and Shardul Thakur from Delhi Capitals for the upcoming season.

They had to release the Aussie pacer Pat Cummins as he made himself unavailable for the next season due to his hectic international schedule.

KKR Retained Players Final List IPL 2023

Andre Russell, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Lockie Ferguson (T), Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (T), Rinku Singh, Shardul Thakur (T), Shreyas Iyer, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer

Kolkata Knight Riders Released Players IPL 2023

Aaron Finch, Abhijeet Tomar, Ajinkya Rahane, Alex Hales, Ashok Sharma, Baba Indrajith, Chamika Karunaratne, Mohammad  Nabi, Pat Cummins, Pratham Singh, Ramesh Kumar, Rasikh Dar, Sam Billings, Sheldon Jackson, Shivam Mavi

KKR has a good bowling line-up but we are a little sceptical about the batting department. There aren’t many reliable batters in this side. The whole batting line-up is dependent on one or two experienced batters and some all-rounders like Shakib and Russell.

It is going to be a little difficult for the KKR side to qualify for the playoffs. With a new coach and new gameplay, they might be able to reach the playoffs but that is going to be a tough road keeping the other squads in mind.

Can KKR Win IPL 2023?

Seeing their squad and some imbalance in the team combinations, we cannot expect a title win for KKR in the 2023 season.

KKR Match Schedule IPL 2023

Kolkata Knight Riders - Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is the coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders?

  KKR has appointed Chandrakant Pandit as the new head coach in August 2022 and replaced the former coach Brendon McCullum. Pandit has coached six Ranji-winning teams.

• Who owns Kolkata Knight Riders?

  Kolkata Knight Riders is owned by Knight Riders Sports Private Limited which is co-owned by Red Chillies Entertainment and the Mehta Group.

  Shahrukh Khan and his wife Gauri Khan own the Red Chillies Entertainment while The Mehta Group is owned by Juhi Chawla and his husband Jay Mehta.

• How many times Kolkata Knight Riders won IPL?

  KKR has won the IPL titles in 2012 and 2014 seasons.

• Who is the IPL winner captain of IPL?

  IPL won both the 2012 and 2014 seasons under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir who is currently the head coach of the Lucknow Super Giants team.