IPL 2019 : Top 5 wicket takers for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL history

Kolkata Knight Riders were one of the eight initial franchises of the Indian Premier League. Bollywood celebrity Shahrukh Khan is one of the owners of this West Bengal based franchise. The team has a lot of fans in the eastern parts of India and Bangladesh as well.

Popularly known by their abbreviation KKR, the Knight Riders have featured in all the 11 IPL seasons conducted thus far. The team has won the IPL trophy twice in 11 attempts. Legendary players like Gautam Gambhir, Jacques Kallis, Sourav Ganguly, Shakib Al Hasan, Dinesh Karthik and Sunil Narine have represented the KKR franchise in the league.

The Knight Riders franchise is known to have a solid bowling attack and their spin bowling department has been one of the key reasons behind their success in the league.

In this article, we will have a look at the top 5 wicket takers for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL history.

---

#5 Andre Russell - 43 wickets

Andre Russell is one of the top all-rounders of world cricket

Kolkata Knight Riders perhaps made their best buy in the 2014 IPL auction when they picked up Jamaican all-rounder Andre Russell for just 60 lakhs INR. His match-winning performances for his franchise led to him becoming one of the highest paid overseas players in IPL history.

The all-rounder has been a star for the Kolkata Knight Riders in both the departments. With the bat, he has shone in the slog overs while with the ball he has chipped in wickets at regular intervals. In the 5 years he has played for the purple and gold army, Russell has picked up 43 wickets at an average of 23.76.

#4 Shakib Al Hasan - 43 wickets

Shakib Al Hasan played for Kolkata Knight Riders in 7 seasons

Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was one of the big signings made by the Shahrukh Khan owned franchise in the year 2011. Shakib has proved himself as one of the biggest match winners in the T20 format with his match-winning performances at both international and domestic levels.

The Bangladeshi player stayed with the Kolkata Knight Riders till 2017. In the 2018 IPL auction, he was snapped up by the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

However, in the 7 seasons he played for Kolkata, Shakib picked up 43 wickets with his left-arm orthodox spin along with stepping up with the bat as well. He represented the Knight Riders in 43 IPL matches and he was one of the trump cards of skipper Gautam Gambhir. His bowling average of 25.6 just showcases his extraordinary bowling talent.

#3 Umesh Yadav - 48 wickets

Umesh Yadav's bowling performances proved to be match-winning for the KKR franchise on multiple occasions

Indian speedster Umesh Yadav was picked up by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2014 IPL auction. He played 47 matches for KKR in the IPL from 2014-2017. He was released from the franchise ahead of the 2018 IPL, where he was picked up by the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Umesh Yadav was a match-winner for Kolkata Knight Riders in the 4 seasons from 2014-17. He had scalped 48 wickets at a strike rate of just 20.1 which shows his superb wicket-taking ability.

The Vidarbha pacer had best figures of 4/32 playing for the Knight Riders and he used one of the top contenders of the elusive purple cap while playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Yadav continued performing magnificently in the league in the 2018 season as well, as a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

#2 Piyush Chawla - 56 wickets

Piyush Chawla is still a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders set-up

Piyush Chawla joined the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise in the year 2014 after playing 6 seasons for the Kings XI Punjab. In his first season for the purple and golden army, the leggie made sure that his former franchise regrets losing him as he scored the winning runs in the final match of the tournament against Kings XI Punjab.

The discarded Indian leg-spinner has been an IPL legend and is amongst the top IPL wicket takers in IPL history.

Playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders, Piyush Chawla has scalped 56 wickets in 5 seasons. Chawla will be playing for the Knight Riders in the upcoming edition of IPL as well. Overall in the 11 seasons, he has taken 140 wickets in 144 IPL matches with an economy rate of 7.71.

#1 Sunil Narine - 112 wickets

The charismatic mystery spinner turned hard-hitting all-rounder

Sunil Narine started a bidding war between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians at the 2012 IPL auction. The then unknown mystery spinner had impressed the fans and critics with his performances in the Champions League T20 while playing for the Trinidad and Tobago team.

He was eventually signed by Kolkata and he is still a part of the Kolkata team. In the 7 seasons he has donned the purple jersey, Narine has picked up 112 wickets from 98 matches at an economy rate of just above 6.5.

Even after 7 seasons, the batsmen still fail to read his deliveries, which shows the dominance he has had in the IPL. Also, the mystery spinner has evolved as a player and he now scores runs with the bat at a hammering rate.

Follow Sportskeeda for all the updates on IPL 2019 time table, points table, news, orange cap, purple cap, live scores and fantasy tips.