Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) did not do well in the previous Indian Premier League (IPL). They finished sixth with six wins and eight defeats in 14 games. This year, the franchise will aim to be exceptional under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer. The franchise purchased Narayan Jagadeesan and Shakib Al Hasan, who were excellent lately, at the mini-auction 2023.
KKR would also be looking forward to satisfying their IPL title thirst after nine years in 2023. Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Shreyas Iyer, Umesh Yadav, and Varun Chakravarthy will be counted on by the franchise to perform well in the league and bring joy to the faces of its supporters.
Because of their extensive expertise, these players will be crucial to KKR’s campaign. As a consequence, some inexperienced players may be benched for the whole of the season.
Here are three KKR players that might be benched during the IPL 2023 season.
Number 1. Harshit Rana
Image Source – Twitter
Harshit Rana played for KKR last season, filling in for Rasikh Salam, who was ruled out due to a lower back ailment. The franchise recruited Rana with a base salary of INR 20 lakhs in order to bolster its bowling unit. However, the teenager only appeared in a few games for the organisation and was unable to live up to his full potential.
He seemed out of sync with the ball, taking just one wicket at a dismal economy of 10.20. Despite his dismal performance in the 2022 tournament, KKR retained him in November 2022. However, owing to his poor performance in the previous season, he may not be included in the team’s starting lineup in 2023.
Inexperience is another aspect that may affect his chances of getting matches in future competitions. The 21-year-old has only played two first-class matches so far, which suggests he may not be a reliable player for the franchise.
Number 2. Litton Das
Image Source – Twitter
Litton Das signed his first IPL contract with KKR in the 2023 mini-auction. The Bangladesh opener was signed at a base salary of INR 50 lakh. In the expedited round, the right-handed batter was selected up. He will join national captain Shakib Al Hasan in strengthening KKR for the next season.
Following the sale, Litton expressed his joy on Twitter by sharing a photo of himself in a KKR jersey. However, he may be seen warming the bench in the next IPL season as KKR may find Narayan Jagadeesan and Rahmanullah Gurbaz more credible to fill the post of a wicket-keeper batter.
Jagadeesan recently struck some amazing hits for Tamil Nadu in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2022-23, capturing the attention of KKR during the auction. Litton Das, on the other hand, seemed inconsistent for Bangladesh against top opponents.
The 28-year-old Bangladesh player will go up against Afghan wicket-keeper batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who has performed well for Afghanistan since 2021.
Number 3. David Wiese
Image Source – Twitter
David Wiese, 37, will be seen in a KKR shirt in the league’s sixteenth iteration. After spending INR 1 crore, the franchise gained its services in the 2023 auction. He made his league debut for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) against Mumbai Indians in 2015. (MI).
The South African-born cricketer showed off his all-around abilities in his first outing. In a losing cause, he took 4/33 and scored an undefeated 47 runs off only 25 balls. He finished the season with 16 scalps in 14 fights at an economy of 8.33.
He returned to the league for RCB the following season, but only played one game, failing to deliver on his promise with stats of 0/49.
This year, he expects the KKR team management to give him an opportunity to play for the organisation. However, because of the availability of great West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell, who has been with the organisation since 2014, KKR may not use his services for the whole season.
