Ahead of IPL 2021 auction, Kolkata Knight Riders dropped 6 players out of their squad. Chris Green, Harry Gurney, M Siddharth, Nikhil Naik, Siddhesh Lad, and Tom Banton were the 6 players that Kolkata Knight Riders released from the squad.
During IPL 2021 auction, Kolkata Knight Riders bought 8 new players. Shakib Al Hasan, Ben Cutting, Harbhajan Singh, Karun Nair, Pawan Negi, Venkatesh Iyer, Sheldon Jackson, and Vaibhav Arora were the players that Kolkata Knight Riders added to their squad during the mini-auction.
In the past, Kolkata Knight Riders have won the IPL titles two times. The team won the trophy in IPL 2012 and IPL 2013. In IPL 2021, Kolkata Knight Riders can again lift the trophy. Here we look at 5 reasons why Kolkata Knight Riders are favourites to win the title in IPL 2021.
IPL 2021: 5 Reasons Why Kolkata Knight Riders Are Favourites To Win The Title
Big Hitters In The Team
Kolkata Knight Riders is a team with big hitters in the squad. Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Dinesh Karthik, and Andre Russell are all big hitters. The presence of these batsmen in the team helps Kolkata Knight Riders with a strong batting attack.
Great Openers
Sunil Narine and Shubman Gill have become crucial openers for the team. Both of them are doing a great job for Kolkata Knight Riders as openers. While Shubman Gill is a consistent batsman, Sunil Narine is a quick run-scorer. Both of them are able to give a good batting start to the team. This will help Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2021.
Strong Lower-Order Batsman Andre Russell
Kolkata Knight Riders have Andre Russell in the team and he is one of the most powerful lower-order batsmen. Russell has a very high batting strike rate and he hit a lot of runs in the death overs.
In IPL, Russell has a strike rate of 182+ which is the highest than any other batsmen. With Andre Russell, Kolkata Knight Riders have a powerful batsman at the lower-middle order position.
Crucial Pacers
Pat Cummins and Prasidh Krishna are some crucial pacers in Kolkata Knight Riders to look upon. Pat Cummins has been a very consistent bowler in Tests during the last year. Moreover, Prasidh Krishna is also a great pacer to look upon. These two bowlers provide great support to Kolkata Knight Riders in bowling.
Superb Spinners
Along with pacers, Kolkata Knight Riders also have a great spin attack. Sunil Narine is an outstanding spinner in the team. Moreover, Kuldeep Yadav is another great spinner who is part of the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Kuldeep Yadav has good international experience. On the Indian soil in IPL 2021, spinners are expected to get a lot of assistance.