2-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders will try to turn their luck with the arrival of coach Chandrakant Pandit. After guiding Madhya Pradesh to their maiden Ranji title earlier this year, he was roped in by the franchise after the post was vacated by Brendon McCullum. Pandit will play a key role in the mini-auction on December 23 when the think tank of the team will gather in Kochi.
KKR have retained a strong group of batters which comprises the likes of Venkatesh Iyer, Gurbaz, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer, and Andre Russell. But former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels that the team needs some pace support.
Speaking on Star Sports Network, Manjrekar opined that Shardul Thakur, who has been traded by KKR from the Delhi Capitals, could prove to be a huge danger for the opposition, adding that the all-rounder could prove to be a great buy.
“When I look at KKR’s playing eleven, Venkatesh Iyer, Gurbaz, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer, Andre Russell, the batting looks OK, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy are there. So, I think it is some pace support is what they need and understandably that’s where they pay the big bucks, so you can understand that.
“See, it’s a performance that we’ve seen KKR with regards to the auction, they’ve paid seven crore for (Shivam) Mavi as well, so they tend to go slightly overboard, I don’t think they are the best team at the auction table. Mumbai Indians for a long time, CSK, have had that reputation of being really good at the auctions,” Manjrekar told Star Sports.
“But having said that, I think Shardul Thakur is a proven material, I know he didn’t have a great time with Delhi capitals and also for India, not at the top of his game, but in Indian conditions, considering his danger with the bat, perhaps he is somebody that you will say ‘oh okay its worth spending that’,” he added.
Apart from Shardul, Lockie Ferguson also heads back to KKR through the trade window after playing a season for Gujarat Titans. But Manjrekar called it a gamble as the New Zealand speedster could do well for his new franchise that lifted the trophy right in its debut season.
“Lockie (Ferguson) was with them earlier, Lockie, we have seen him have a good time with KKR but didn’t quite do his part for his new franchise. So, it’s a bit of a gamble there,” he added.
The two-time IPL winners, KKR have a budget of INR 7.05 crore — the smallest among all ten teams in the IPL 2023 Auction. They have as many as 11 slots available and can buy a maximum of three overseas players.
(With IANS Inputs)
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