Pictures: KKR’s Varun Chakravarthy, Rinku Singh and others begin preparation for IPL 2023 in pre-season camp

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) star players Varun Chakravarthy, Rinku Singh and other cricketers have begun their preparations ahead of IPL 2023.

The players were seen spending quality time at the nets as they gear up for the 16th edition of the tournament. In a post, KKR wrote:

“Here we go! The Pre-Season Camp has begun!”

Chakravarthy will look to bounce back strongly after an underwhelming IPL 2022 campaign. The leg-spinner scalped just six wickets in 11 games as the two-time champions finished seventh with six wins in 14 games.

Meanwhile, Rinku Singh will look for another breakthrough year after he amassed 174 runs in seven games at a strike rate of 130 in IPL 2022. The 25-year-old's match-winning knocks of unbeaten 42 and 23 helped Kolkata beat Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Mumbai Indians (MI) last season. The left-hander also hit a fighting knock of 40 off 15 against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) while chasing 210, which the team lost by two runs.

The Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise will look to unearth more hidden talent in their pursuit of ending their eight-year-long trophy drought. Gautam Gambhir led the franchise to glory in 2012 and 2014.

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KKR buy eight players for IPL 2023

The Shreyas Iyer-led franchise have bought eight players to strengthen their core for IPL 2023.

They have roped in the likes of Bangladesh batter Litton Das, all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and domestic talent Narayan Jagadeesan to boost their squad. They also have a backup for Andre Russell in the form of David Weise.

Full KKR squad

Players bought - Shakib Al Hasan (INR 1.50 crore), N. Jagadeesan (INR 90 lakh), Vaibhav Arora (INR 60 lakh), Suyash Sharma (INR 20 lakh), David Wiese (INR 1 crore), Kulwant Khejroliya (INR 20 lakh), Litton Das (INR 50 lakh), Mandeep Singh (INR 50 lakh)

Players retained: Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Tim Southee, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh

KKR will begin their IPL 2023 campaign against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Mohali on April 1 as the home and away game format resumes following a three-year gap.

Click here for IPL 2023 full schedule.