IPL 2019: 3 areas KKR need to strengthen during the auction

Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders are one of the most followed teams in the IPL. Ever since Gautam Gambhir took over the captaincy in 2011, KKR became one of the most consistent teams in the tournament. They have managed to finish top-four in six of the previous eight seasons.

Kolkata Knight Riders revamped their squad in the 2018 auction and even allowed their talismanic captain to leave the franchise. Only Sunil Narine and Andre Russell were retained by the club before the auction.

Dinesh Karthik was bought for a huge INR 7.4 crores and was made the captain of the team. Though they played some good cricket throughout the tournament and finished third, they clearly struggled in some aspects of the game.

WIth the 2019 auction coming in mid-December, KKR will definitely have to reinforce their squad for the new season.

On that note, let's take a look at the 3 areas KKR need to address during the 2019 IPL auction.

#3 Pace attack

Johnson is way past his prime and KKR cannot rely on him next season

Kolkata Knight Riders arguably had the weakest pace attack in the tournament last season. Though they had Mitchell Starc in their ranks, however, he was ruled out of the tournament before it began.

Mitchell Johnson is way past his prime and he rarely plays these days. KKR spent a lot of money on the U-19 pacers Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi. Also, Vinay Kumar is a shadow of a bowler he once was.

Starc's injury completely exposed their bowling attack last campaign. If not for their spinners, Kuldeep Yadav and Sunil Narine, Kolkata would never have finished in the top-four.

They should definitely look to buy at least a couple of quality overseas seamers and an Indian seamer, if possible.

#2 Middle-order

Nitish Rana need to score runs on a consistent basis for KKR

An inexperienced middle-order badly hurt Kolkata Knight Riders last season. Though they have an explosive top-three in Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, and Robin Uthappa, their middle-order is fragile.

Dinesh Karthik did the bulk of the scoring last season. Nitish Rana struggled to influence games and managed just one fifty in 15 games. Rinku Singh too failed to impress with just 29 runs in four games.

Shubman Gill played some good cameos, but, it wasn't enough for KKR to win games in a highly competitive league. Though Andre Russell single-handedly won a couple of games for them, they cannot rely on him every time to produce results.

KKR should certainly look to buy a couple of good middle-order batsman during the 2019 auction. Shimron Hetmyer is definitely an option while Joe Root is also an exciting choice in the middle-order.

#1 Bench strength

With only 19 players in the squad, KKR needs to fortify their bench strength

With the 2019 ICC World Cup coming immediately after the 2019 Indian Premier League, squad depth is going to be one of the key aspects of IPL 2019.

Overseas players might depart early to prepare for the World Cup and teams with proper replacements in the squad are going to last long in the tournament.

Going into IPL 2019, Kolkata Knight Riders have the weakest bench strength of all IPL teams. With only 19 players in the squad, they found it extremely hard last campaign and 2019 is expected to be even harder.

They definitely need to make a few quality signings in the 2019 auction to strengthen their bench, in case of injuries and players departing early. A couple of good seamers and a couple of quality batsmen will enhance their chances in IPL 2019.