IPL Auction 2019: Kolkata Knight Riders release 8 players

Kolkata Knight Riders have announced that they have released 8 players ahead of the IPL 2019 auctions. The 2-time IPL champions have let go of Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, Tom Curran, Cameron Delport, Javon Searles, Apoorv Wankhede, Vinay Kumar and Ishank Jaggi.

Unsurprisingly, KKR have retained the core of players they kept before the 2018 auction and also the players they got using the RTM card. Captain Dinesh Karthik and their big buy Chris Lynn have also been retained.

Speaking to KKR CEO, Venky Mysore said: “The retention was triggered by how our season went in 2018.”

“As we all know, we had a big auction before the last edition, where we assembled a new team. We had retained only Andre Russell and Sunil Narine (on that occasion), so it was practically a new squad, and we were quite excited by the way the season evolved. We have retained 13 players now, including Kamlesh Nagarkoti".

"He was injured, and he, unfortunately, couldn't play for us. He is still recovering, but given the skills and ability he has, we picked him with that intention, and we have retained him again.”

“Releasing players is always a difficult decision, because we are like one big family. The cricketers, whether they play or they don't, often contribute in many other ways to a side. However, this was an opportunity for us to fine-tune the squad, and look at the strategies going forward,” added the KKR CEO.

The IPL 2019 auctions are set to take place in Jaipur on December 17th and 18th.

Retained Players: Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shubman Gill, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Shivam Mavi, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Kamlesh Nagarkoti

Released: Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, Tom Curran, Cameron Delport, Ishank Jaggi, Vinay Kumar, Apoorv Wankhade, Javon Searles