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Adding to their changing squad, two-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have brought in India allrounder Shardul Thakur from Delhi Capitals (DC), according to reports. Thakur joins Lockie Ferguson and Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the team, with the other two players also joining the side in an all-cash trade.
Thakur is currently in New Zealand and is a part of India's ODI squad for the upcoming series. He was bought by Capitals during the 2022 IPL mega auction for Rs 10.75 crore, and KKR had to stave off challenges from Thakur's former IPL outfit Chennai Super Kings (CSK), current IPL champions Gujarat Titans (GT) and Punjab Kings (PBKS), all of whom tried to bring in the star bowling-allrounder. Thakur has been traded for Aman Khan, who was brought by KKR for his base price of Rs 20 lakh in IPL 2022 mega auction.
Thakur bagged 15 wickets in 14 matches during the IPL 2022 season, at a high economy of 9.79, and with the bat, he scored 120 runs striking the ball at a rate of almost 138. In the entirety of his IPL career, Thakur has taken 82, with an economy rate of 9.05. His best season was in 2021, where he picked up 21 wickets for CSK. His best figures of 4/36 came in the 2022 season, against PBKS.
Meanwhile, the IPL mini-auction is set to take place on December 23 in Kochi, according to the sources who told Sports Tak. It will be a mini-auction this time around, given that the mega auction was held prior to IPL 2022 which saw a major rejig in teams for all franchises. Every team will have an additional Rs 5 crore to spend for the auction this year, making the overall auction purse Rs 95 crore.
KKR will hope to improve their performance from the 2022 edition, where the side failed to qualify for the playoffs under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer and the tutelage of Brendon McCullum.
They have a new-look coaching staff in the management group, led by Ranji Trophy-winning coach Chandrakant Pandit while bringing back former IPL-winning Netherlands legend Ryan Ten Doeschate.
