Kolkata Knight Riders marked a serious cause at the IPL 2023 mini-auction in Kochi on 23 December. The two-time champions were inconsistent last year and failed to make the playoffs due to lower net speed.
In this year’s auction, KKR had a purse of INR 7.05 crore with 11 slots (eight Indian and three overseas players). They released most of their players including the likes of Pat Cummins (unavailable to focus on national duties), Sam Billings (backed out of the auction), Aman Khan, Shivam Mavi, Mohammad Nabi, Chamika Karunaratne, Aaron Finch, Alex Hales, Abhijeet Tomar , Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Sharma, Baba Indrajith, Pratham Singh, Ramesh Kumar, Rasikh Salam and Sheldon Jackson.
The Shreyas Iyer-led side traded bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur from Delhi Capitals and New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson and Afghanistan batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz from Gujarat Titans.
KKR opened their account with a steal in the form of promising batsman Narayan Jagadeesan for INR 90 lakhs. They then invested in India’s uncapped homegrown talent Vaibhav Arora for INR 60 million. Kolkata played a waiting game for a while before finally zeroing in on Suyash Sharma at his base price of INR 20 lakhs.
The former champions pulled off another steal when they bought David Wies for INR 1 million. The Kolkata-based franchise came out with all guns blazing during the accelerated auction and bought three seasoned players – Bangladeshi duo Litton Das (INR 50 million) and Shakib Al Hasan (INR 1.5 million) and Mandeep Singh for INR 50 million and
Contents
Kolkata Knight Riders Final Squad:
Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, Narayan V Jabraigadees, Suyash Sharma, David Weise, Kulwant Khejrolia, Mandeep Singh, Litton Das, Shakib Al Hasan.
KKR Squad 2023 Retained Players List, Role & Price Details:
KKR players retained:
| PLAYER | ROLE | PRICE |
| Shreyas Iyer (c) | Batsmen | 12.25 crore |
| Nitish Rana | Batsmen | 8 crore |
| Venkatesh Iyer | All-Rounder | 8 Crore |
| Andre Russell | All-Rounder | 12 Crore |
| Sunil Narine | All-Rounder | 6 Crore |
| Umesh Yadav | Bowler | 2 crore |
| Tim Southee | Bowler | 1.5 crore |
| Harshit Rana | Bowler | 20 lakh |
| Varun Chakravarthy | Bowler | 8 Crore |
| Anukul Roy | All-Rounder | 20 lakh |
| Rinku Singh | Batsmen | 55 lakh |
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz | Batsman/Wicket-keeper | 50 lakh |
| Shardul Thakur | Bowler | 10.75 Crore |
| Lockie Ferguson | Bowler | 10 Crore |
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Team 2023 players list:
| PLAYER | ROLE | PRICE |
| Shreyas Iyer (c) | Batsmen | 12.25 crore |
| Nitish Rana | Batsmen | 8 crore |
| Venkatesh Iyer | All-Rounder | 8 Crore |
| Andre Russell | All-Rounder | 12 Crore |
| Sunil Narine | All-Rounder | 6 Crore |
| Umesh Yadav | Bowler | 2 crore |
| Tim Southee | Bowler | 1.5 crore |
| Harshit Rana | Bowler | 20 lakh |
| Varun Chakravarthy | Bowler | 8 Crore |
| Anukul Roy | All-Rounder | 20 lakh |
| Rinku Singh | Batsmen | 55 lakh |
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz | Batsman/Wicket-keeper | 50 lakh |
| Shardul Thakur | Bowler | 10.75 Crore |
| Lockie Ferguson | Bowler | 10 Crore |
| N Jagadeesan | Batsmen | 90 lakh |
| Vaibhav Arora | Bowler | 60 lakh |
| Suyash Sharma | Bowler | 20 lakh |
| David Wiese | All-Rounder | 1 crore |
| Kulwant Khejroliya | Bowler | 20 lakh |
| Litton Das | Wicket-keeper | 50 lakh |
| Mandeep Singh | Batsmen | 50 lakh |
| Shakib Al Hasan | All-Rounder | 1.5 crore |
Squad Strength – 22 (Indian-14, Overseas-8)
Purse Remaining – INR 1.65 crore
