Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have retained 13 out of 25 players from the IPL 2023 season.
Shreyas Iyer has been retained and he makes his return to the IPL in the upcoming season after being ruled out of the last season due to an injury.
Seasoned campaigners Sunil Narine and Andre Russell continue to be a part of the set-up for KKR while exceptional performers like Rinku Singh, Nitish Rana have been retained as well, the KKR sources said.
KKR have also shown faith in the young fast bowlers, Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora who impressed everyone with their skills last season.
KKR coaching staff have been bolstered by the addition of Gautam Gambhir who recently joined the squad as a mentor for the upcoming season.
However, Shardul Thakur is the biggest named released by the two-time champions.
The KKR will now move into the IPL 2024 auction with a remaining purse value of 32.7 crores.
Retained Players: Shreyas Iyer (C), Andre Russell, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Jason Roy, Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Suyash Sharma, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer.
Released players: Aarya Desai, David Wiese, Johnson Charles, Kulwant Khejroliya, Litton Das, Lockie Ferguson, Mandeep Singh, N Jagadeesan, Shakib Al Hasan, Shardul Thakur, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav. (UNI)