Kolkata Knight Riders predicted XI for IPL 2021

All-rounders: Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins

Sunil Narine has competition from Shakib Al Hasan for the spin-bowling all-rounder role

KKR signed Shakib Al Hasan on a cut-price deal in the IPL 2021 auction, and he does have a case to replace the struggling Sunil Narine. But the West Indian has the complete backing of the KKR management, and should be given a long rope.

As a result, KKR will field their overseas trio of all-rounders - Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Pat Cummins. All three players had unsatisfactory campaigns in IPL 2020 due to different reasons - injury, action troubles, form and so on. They will want to justify the faith Brendon McCullum and Co. have shown in them.

The inclusion of Cummins means that Lockie Ferguson, who played well when called upon last season, will have to be on the bench. The Man of the Final in the 2016 IPL, Ben Cutting, will serve as Russell's backup.

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Bowlers: Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy

There doesn't seem to be room for Kuldeep Yadav in the KKR playing XI

KKR rotated their young Indian pacers - Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Prasidh Krishna - throughout last season, and none of these bowlers have edged ahead of the others. However, the most likely to be picked from this trio are Mavi and Krishna.

While Mavi bowled superbly in the powerplay last season, Krishna has the extra pace and bounce to trouble batsmen. Nagarkoti, on the other hand, was used mainly in the middle overs, and KKR might not need the same if Russell is completely fit to bowl.

The final spot in the KKR playing XI will be taken up by their highest wicket-taker from IPL 2020, Varun Chakravarthy. The mystery spinner is currently recovering from an injury, but should still get the nod ahead of new signing Harbhajan Singh and the struggling Kuldeep Yadav.

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KKR's predicted playing XI for IPL 2021: Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy