IPL 2022 Auctions: 3 KKR bang for the buck overseas stars to watch out for

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have some of the best overseas matchwinners in their unit. They have won paddle battles for these players and will hope that they can deliver for the side as they search for a third IPL title.

Here's a quick look at their international imports

Player	Role
Alex Hales	Bat
Sam Billings	Bat/Wk
Sunil Narine	All-rounder
Andre Russell	All-rounder
Tim Southee	Bowl
Pat Cummins	All-rounder
Mohammed Nabi	All-rounder

Hales could be destructive as an opener at the top while Cummins and Southee are lethal with the ball.

Narine and Russell have been star players in the IPL, while Nabi is a tricky customer with the ball and handy with the bat.

Ahead of IPL 2022, we take a look at three overseas players to watch out for.

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#1 Alex Hales will be KKR's most dangerous batter

Once he strikes momentum, it's hard to contain an explosive batter like Alex Hales. The English opener scores the bulk of his runs in the powerplay and is one of the players who can change the tide of the game.

Hales has played 60 T20Is for England, scoring 1644 runs at an average of 31.02 and a strike rate of 136.66. But it's his T20 career that's stunning: 336 matches, 9471 runs, averages 30.95 and strikes at 146.08. He will be key for KKR when he walks out with an equally explosive Venkatesh Iyer.

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#2 Andre Russell

Much of KKR's hopes in closing out games rest on Andre Russell's muscular shoulders. The Windies star has been their finisher for quite some time now, but his form will play a crucial role. He finished IPL 2021 with just 183 runs from 10 games and was retained despite an average outing.

He had a breakout season in 2019 with the side when he amassed 510 runs from 14 games at an average of 56.66 and a strike rate of 2014.81.

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#3 Pat Cummins

Before opting out of the second phase of IPL 2021 that was slated to be played in the UAE, Pat Cummins was a much-needed bowling all-rounder for KKR.

He played seven games, stacked up 73 runs and picked up nine wickets before exiting the edition. One of those innings included an unbeaten 66 and his economy rate of 8.83 kept Kolkata in the hunt despite a below par first part of the season.

Now that he's back in the fold again, KKR can expect some useful runs from his willow and wickets at crucial stages of the game.