With the return of Shreyas Iyer, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will further strengthen their middle order, which already has Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh. By bringing in Mitchell Starc and having their spin trio settled, the 2-time champions will have one of the best bowling line-ups in IPL 2024. However, there are still a few chinks in their armor. Coming after a layoff, Iyer will have to choose the five players who might come as the ‘impact player‘ to find the perfect balance for KKR.
Impact player options for KKR
| Player | Role |
|---|---|
| Manish Pandey | Top-order batter |
| Ramandeep Singh | Lower-order batter |
| Vaibhav Arora | Right-arm pacer |
| Anukul Roy | Spin all-rounder |
| Chetan Sakariya | Left-arm pacer |
KKR’s batting order seems settled. However, in case of a collapse or a requirement for some quick runs, Manish Pandey and Ramandeep Singh can be brought in. Pandey, the first Indian to score a century in the IPL, can be used in the top order. Meanwhile, Ramandeep can offer his useful power-hitting lower down the order.
Vaibhav Arora and Chetan Sakariya can be brought in on pacer-friendly pitches. Sakariya can be utilized as a new ball bowler, while Vaibhav can be used as a middle-over enforcer. Meanwhile, Anukul Roy can be brought in as a spin-bowling all-rounder and to offer assistance with the bat and ball.
KKR Probable Playing 11 for IPL 2024
Phil Salt (wk) ✈️, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh. Andre Russell ✈️, Sunil Narine✈️, Mitchell Starc ✈️,Varun Chakaravarthy, Suyash Sharma, Harshit Rana.
KKR Squad
Phil Salt, Shreyas Iyer (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Manish Pandey. Sherfane Rutherford, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, KS Bharat, Nitish Rana (vc), Venkatesh Iyer. Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Chetan Sakariya, Vaibhav Arora. Mitchell Starc, Gus Atkinson, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma.
