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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have had a catastrophic 2021 IPL so far. They are seventh on the IPL points table 2021 going into the second phase of the tournament in the UAE, with quite a few of their players under the scanner.
Just two wins in the first seven matches leave Eoin Morgan with a huge task at hand. While his primary job is to drag KKR to the 2021 IPL playoffs schedule, he also has his personal form to look after.
Other big stars in the team - Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik and Sunil Narine - have all failed to perform consistently. Their opening pair of Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana too have come under severe criticism for their scoring rate.
All in all, while the KKR squad will be vying for a spot in the IPL playoffs, which looks highly unlikely, they will also be fighting personal battles. With the IPL mega auction scheduled for next year, every player would want to make a case for his retention.
Here are three such KKR players who need to be at their best in the second phase of the IPL to strengthen their retention case:
#3 Sunil Narine
Narine is the least likely of the three players on this list to be retained by KKR. Narine had his best all-round season in 2018, picking up 17 wickets while scoring 357 runs at the top of the order. But it has all been downhill since.
The left-handed batsman has since scored 143 and 121 runs in the two seasons that followed, and picked up 10 and five wickets respectively.
Click here for the updated most wicket in IPL 2021 table.
In the 2021 IPL season, he could only score 10 runs and pick up four wickets in four matches, further hampering his chances of retention ahead of the mega auction.
But with the remainder of the tournament set to be played in the UAE, Narine has one last chance to push his case as the conditions would suit his bowling, while the short boundary size will aid his run-scoring.
#2 Dinesh Karthik
Former KKR captain Dinesh Karthik hasn't been in the best of form either. But he still has an outside chance of making it to the franchise's retention list ahead of the mega auction. For that, he will have to notch his game up a level or two in the second phase of the tournament.
So far in seven matches of the 2021 IPL schedule, the wicketkeeper-batter has scored 123 runs at a strike-rate of 138.20, batting between five and seven for the side. Being one of the senior custodians of the side, Karthik will also have to carry some of the leadership burden as KKR push for a playoff spot.
#1 Eoin Morgan
The current captain of the side isn't assured of a retention spot himself. A season ago, Morgan would have been a shoo-in for one of three retentions, but a sub-par 2021 season has brought that into question now.
The England international hasn't even crossed the three-digit mark in runs scored, adding just 92 runs in seven matches, 47 of which came in just one match. While his form has reflected KKR's returns this season, it has also brought his spot into question.
Morgan has seven crucial matches coming up in the second phase of the 2021 IPL and he would like to cash in on them and be one of KKR's three retentions ahead of the mega auction.
