Having last won both of their IPL titles under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) roped back in their former captain for the IPL 2024 season as their mentor ahead of the auction.
KKR have reached the playoffs only once in the last five IPL seasons. In the last two IPL tournaments, KKR finished 7th both times in the 10-team tournament. Desperate to get back to winning ways, the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise made a big move to get back Gautam Gambhir, who was with LSG as a mentor in the last two seasons, guiding them to playoffs spots both times.
At the auction table, then, Gambhir made the headlining call to splash a whopping INR 24.75 crore for Mitchell Starc, making the Aussie speedster the most expensive player ever in the IPL.
KKR also bought white-ball specialists Mujeeb Ur Rahman and England’s fast bowler Gus Atkinson. Two of their other big signings in the auction were Manish Pandey and Sherfane Rutherford.
Here are the 3 biggest match-winners in KKR’s squad in IPL 2024:
Andre Russell
T20 all-rounders don’t come with a bigger match-winning pedigree than Andre Russell. Russell has been with KKR since 2014 and became a world-beating monster in 2018. In six of the past 8 seasons, he has smashed at a strike rate of more than 150. Such is his commitment to the KKR team that he played the last couple of seasons with minor niggles and still gave his best, also bowling in the death overs.
Russell is also back with the West Indies team as he targets the home T20 World Cup. Before that, he will be aiming to win the IPL trophy with KKR this year.
Mitchell Starc
The auction price of Mitchell Starc spent by KKR is a testament to Starc’s match-winning bowling effort, despite not playing in the IPL since 2015. Starc was a crucial part of the Australian team that has won two ODI World Cups and a T20 World Cup. What Starc brings is wicket-taking assurance in both powerplay and death-overs. With Starc in their ranks, KKR can strongly push for a title win this year.
We won, Mr. Starc! 💜 pic.twitter.com/twJ3VmCPDl
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) December 19, 2023
Varun Chakravarthy
With the T20 World Cup around the corner, Varun Chakravarthy would eye the IPL 2024 as a platform to make a comeback in India’s squad. He was part of the squad in the 2020 T20 World Cup, but was dropped afterward with just 2 wickets in 6 T20Is.
But Varun Chakravarthy has been very impressive in the IPL. Apart from the 2022 season, he has picked up over 15 wickets in three of the last four IPL seasons. Chakravarthy, along with Narine and Suyash form a lethal spin trio that would dismantle any opposition, especially when they play at the Eden Gardens.
Also Read: Arjun Tendulkar Starts Ranji Trophy 2024 For Goa: Check His Performance Report In 1st Match
