KKR is among the successful teams in the IPL history as they have got their hands on the IPL trophy twice, but since their last trophy triumph in 2014, they have struggled to get to the playoffs on a consistent basis in the last 5 years.
Even last year, they failed to finish in top 4 and they missed the top 4 by a whisker again in IPL 2020 as Royal Challengers Bangalore made it to the playoffs ahead of them because if their better Net Run Rate (NRR).
As KKR now plans for the future, here are the 5 players they might release next season –
1. Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik started the 2020 season as KKR captain, but he was always going to be under pressure because of the presence of Eoin Morgan in the side who is a world cup winning captain.
Karthik didn’t help himself by not scoring a lot of runs and the fact that KKR lost a lot of matches only made the matters worse for Karthik.
Karthik had to give up the captaincy mid way through the season, but even after giving up the captaincy, his batting form didn’t improve significantly.
The veteran wicket-keeper batsman scored a golden duck in the last league match for KKR and might be released next season.
2. Rinku Singh
Rinku Singh doesn’t seem to fit in well at KKR at the moment. He was warming the bench for most parts of 2020 season and the one opportunity that he got towards the end, he couldn’t quite grab it with both hands.
It’s very much possible now that KKR decides not to extend the contract of Rinku as they move ahead.
3. Prasidh Krishna
Prasidh Krishna had impressed one and all with his pace in the last couple of seasons of the IPL, but he didn’t get the opportunity in the initial stages of the tournament this season and then when he eventually was included in the playing XI, he looked rusty and struggled with his accuracy.
Although Krishna is someone who is rated very highly in the Indian cricketing circles as far as white ball cricket is concerned, he is also in danger of losing his contract based on his performance in IPL 2020.
4. Kuldeep Singh
Now this might seem very surprising, but Kuldeep seems to have lost his mojo in white ball cricket and was not the first choice spinner in the KKR playing XI at any stage in IPL 2020.
The young left am wrist spinner hardly played a game in the second half of the tournament and it was the uncapped Indian spinner Varun Chakravarthy who was given preference over Kuldeep, rightly so because he seemed to be in way better rhythm than Kuldeep in a few of the games where they both played together.
Kuldeep might be back in the auction next year again.
5. Tom Banton
Tom Banton had come into the tournament with a very high reputation, but KKR probably failed to provide him enough opportunities and one of the reasons behind that was that KKR already had a few Indian batsmen who could bat in the top order.
Banton still got to play a couple of games and he registered low scores in all those games. Although he is a very talented player, Banton might not be a perfect fit for KKR at the moment and he might also be sent back to the auction next year.
