IPL 2019: Best players in each department for KKR

Yet another breathtaking edition of world's most liked T20 league IPL is set to get underway on 23rd of March. One of the most successful IPL teams, Kolkata Knight Riders will start their campaign on March 24 when they will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

KKR are only behind Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians in terms of winning the IPL title as they have lifted the trophy two times while CSK and MI both have won the title thrice.

Last season, KKR quite surprisingly qualified for the playoffs in spite of having a weak squad. But this season, they have a quite decent squad. So they will surely be hoping to get their hands on IPL trophy for the third time.

Here, we take a look at the best player in each department for KKR who can play a crucial role for them in winning the tournament.

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#4 Best Fast Bowler: Lockie Ferguson

Lockie Ferguson

Kolkata Knight Riders have a very inexperienced fast bowling attack for the upcoming season as they have Anrich Nortje, Lockie Ferguson, Shivam Mavi, Hardus Viljoen, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Prasidh Krishna and Prithvi Raj in their fast bowling attack. Even though, these bowlers have not enough experience but all of these have the potential to do well on the big stage.

However, the exceedingly skilled kiwi pacer Lockie Ferguson could be the best fast bowler for the franchise in IPL 2019. Ferguson is someone who can consistently bowl over 145 kph and has a good bouncer and a yorker which makes him a quite lethal bowler in the shortest form of the game. He has been in great form of late in international cricket.

Previously, Ferguson has played for Rising Pune Supergiants in IPL 2017 where he played just 4 matches and picked up 3 wickets.

As far as Ferguson's T20I stats are concerned, he has taken 10 wickets from 5 matches at an unbelievable average of 13.5 and an economy rate of 7.15 with 21/3 being his best figures.

With KKR not having any big name in their fast bowling attack, Ferguson is expected to be their first choice overseas pacer in the upcoming season. KKR will have high hopes from the kiwi paceman in IPL 2019.

Considering Lockie Ferguson's potential, he could surprise everyone with his performance in IPL 2019. It will be worth watching him in the approaching season.

#3 Best Spinner: Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav

KKR has a dangerous spin trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla which makes them one of the best spin attacks of the tournament. All the three spinners have been quite good for the franchise in the last couple of seasons but Kuldeep could prove to be their best spinner this season.

Kuldeep is one of the very few chinaman bowlers in world cricket at the moment. His different action makes it very difficult for any batsman to play him and this is the reason why he has been so successful in recent times.

The chinaman spinner is going through his purple patch at the moment. He has been doing well consistently for the Indian team since his arrival in the international cricket. KKR will be expecting Kuldeep to continue his dream run in IPL 2019 as well.

So far, the 24-year-old has played a total of 31 matches in IPL and has taken 35 wickets at an average of 24.51 and an economy rate of 8.22 with 20/4 being his best figures. These are decent numbers but he has much better records in T20Is as he has picked 35 wickets from just 18 T20Is. So it will be interesting to watch if Kuldeep could replicate his T20I success in this year's IPL.

#2 Best All-rounder: Andre Russell

Andre Russell

Kolkata Knight Riders have some brilliant all-rounders like Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Nitish Rana and Carlos Brathwaite in the squad but Andre Russell happens to be the best among them.

The hard-hitting Caribbean all-rounder, Andre Russell is arguably one of the best T20 all-rounders at the moment. He is someone who has the ability to win matches single-handedly for his team with both bat and ball. The 30-year-old has been an integral part of the Kolkata-based franchise in the last few seasons.

Russell has made a total of 50 IPL appearances for KKR till date. From these matches, he has smashed 890 runs at an average of 26.97 and an unbelievable strike rate of 177.29 with 88 being his highest score. In bowling, he has 44 wickets to his name with 20/4 being his best.

Andre Russell will surely be one of the most important players for KKR in the forthcoming season of IPL. It will be fascinating to see if he could live up to the expectations of his fans and franchise.

#1 Best Batsman: Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik

KKR have a decent batting line up for the upcoming season as they Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Shubman Gill and Dinesh Karthik in the squad. However, their captain Dinesh Karthik who was in tremendous form last season could be their most reliable batsman this season as well.

Last year, Karthik was adjudged the captain of KKR and this decision proved to be quite beneficial for both KKR and Karthik as captaincy took DK's game to a whole new level and he led KKR to the playoffs of the tournament. He performed consistently throughout the last season. In IPL 2018, he slammed 498 runs from 16 matches at an impressive average of 49.80 and a strike rate of 147.77. It was one of the best IPL seasons for Dinesh Karthik with the bat. KKR will be expecting Karthik to repeat the same this time as well.

It would be interesting to see how far he will be able to take the KKR in this year's IPL and if he can lead KKR to their third IPL title.