KKR have decided to retain mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy and Venkatesh Iyer along with West Indies duo of Sunil Narine and Andre Russell. The retention means that KKR will be able to spend only Rs 48 crores in the auctions as they have retained four players. The former IPL champions had a tough task in their hands to decide whom to retain.
The likes of Narine and Russell have been consistent performers over the years and were expected to be retained. Narine has been with the franchise since 2012 and will continue his association with the two-time IPL champions.
Retained players
Andre Russell (Rs 12 crore)
Varun Chakravarthy (Rs 8 crore)
Venkatesh Iyer (Rs 8 crore)
Sunil Narine (Rs 6 crore)
Remaining purse - Rs 56 crore
Notable exclusions
When it comes to the players missing out, Eoin Morgan should consider himself unlucky as little faith was shown in him. Lockie Ferguson and Rahul Tripathi will also consider themselves unlucky to miss out as their contribution was crucial in KKR reaching the final.
Teams though will still be able to bid for their released stars and regain them if the teams purchase them outright. With no Right to Match(RTM) option available this time, KKR management knows they will have to get their strategies right as the battle will intensify with two more teams competing for the title this time. KKR last won the title in 2014 as they try to end their eight-year drought by the time IPL begins.
Released Players
Eoin Morgan, Karun Nair, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Gajendra Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Tim Seifert, Sheldon Jackson, Shakib Al Hasan, Shivam Mavi, Ben Cutting, Kuldeep Yadav, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Sandeep Warrier, Pawan Negi, Prasidh Krishna, Pat Cummins, Vaibhav Arora, Harbhajan Singh, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson
