4 players who might be dropped by KKR in IPL 2019

Kolkata Knight Riders have made the playoffs following a late surge. The Dinesh Karthik led side were written off by many at the start of the season, especially following the injury to Mitchell Starc but they recovered well and now have a chance of lifting the trophy.

While there were some stellar performances from a few players, many of them flattered to deceive.

Here are five players KKR might drop from their side ahead of IPL 2019:

#4 Mitchell Johnson

Johnson had a horrific IPL 2018, picking up just 2 wickets in 6 matches and leaking runs at an economy of over 10, which is just not good enough. Johnson seems to have lost a yard of pace and batsmen found it easy to smash his bowling to all parts of the ground.

He struggled to take wickets up front and was poor at the death as well, meaning he was a liability in the KKR team and they ended up dropping him soon enough.

Johnson is unlikely to find a spot in the KKR set-up next season after his horrific showing.

#3 Vinay Kumar

Vinay Kumar was bought at the auctions for INR 1 crore and was expected to be the leader of the KKR bowling attack especially once Mitchell Starc was ruled out due to injury.

However, Vinay was simply awful as he played just two matches, picking up two wickets. His economy rate was a horrific 16.95 and he almost singlehandedly cost his side the game against CSK when he bowled a terrible final over.

Vinay Kumar was subsequently dropped in favour of Shivam Mavi and he is unlikely to ever get a game again for the team.

#2 Rinku Singh

With the stocked batting reserves KKR possessed, it was always going to be tough for Rinku Singh to get a game. However, it was he and not Shubman Gill who started KKR's initial games, but he failed to impress despite possessing a pretty solid technique.

Rinku scored just 29 runs in four matches and struggled to hit any boundaries, going along at a strike rate of 93 - criminal in a T20 game.

While he is still young, he needs to move to another franchise to truly unlock his potential. He will in all likelihood be dropped by KKR ahead of the next edition.

#1 Tom Curran

Curran was roped in by KKR as a replacement for Mitchell Starc following some impressive showings in international cricket. However, his first IPL season was one to forget for the Englishman.

While he did manage to pick 6 wickets in 5 matches, his economy was a whopping 11.6. He was brought in to be their premium death bowler but struggled to nail his yorkers and variations.

KKR dropped him from the side following some unimpressive showings and replaced him with Javon Searles who has looked fairly decent in the few chances he has received.