Would 24.75 Cr-Worth Starc Be Enough For Kolkata; KKR's Best XI For IPL 2024

image-lqf9hjjpKolkata's squad for IPL 2024 (x.com/@KKRiders)

Kolkata's very own, Gautam Gambhir has come back to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), donning the role of a mentor ahead of a new season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024). Leading into the IPL 2024 auction, KKR had released all their experienced pacers, namely Umesh Yadav, Southee, Lockie Ferguson, etc. 

The motive was to acquire one Australian pacer between Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc and they knew they needed a lot of money to grab their services. But little did anyone expect that KKR had to shell out a record-breaking 24.75 crore rupees to acquire the services of Mitchell Starc, who last featured in IPL back in 2015. 

However, the franchise would be disappointed to not buy good Indian pacers. They have bought the services of only one prominent name in Chetan Sakariya for INR 50 lakh, who will bring variety in that pace attack. 

Gus Atkinson has been picked for a sum of 1 core as a back-up for Starc, while Mujeeb Ur Rahman (INR 2 crore) is a back-up for Sunil Narine. KKR have also roped in Manish Pandey for his base price of (INR 50 lakh), however, given his form in the last couple of seasons, he shouldn’t be in the first-choice XI. 

In this article, we take a look at Kolkata Knight Rider’s best-playing XI for the IPL 2024.


Openers: Venkatesh Iyer and Rahmanullah Gurbaz

Rahmanullah Gurbaz is likely to open the innings alongside Venkatesh Iyer. The latter did manage to cross 400 runs in the last season but the team would be expecting more out of him. Jason Roy is, undoubtedly, a better batsman and a more experienced batsman than Gurbaz, however, the latter’s ability to keep wickets should help me keep his place in the eleven. 


Middle-order: Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, and Rinku Singh

Shreyas Iyer will be back leading the side. He is a very important player in this playing XI and his form will be crucial to the team’s fortune in the side. Nitish Rana should stay at four. He was the leading run-scorer for the team last season, accumulating 474 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 149. 

Andre Russell and Rinku Singh should take care of the latter half of the innings. The latter’s stocks have risen exponentially since hitting 5 sixes in the last over to Yash Dayal. He has, recently, made his India debut and would be brimming with confidence.


Bowlers: Sunil Narine, Mitchell Starc, Chetan Sakariya, Varun Chakravarthy

KKR will have a new leader in the fast bowling department i.e., Mitchell Starc. He will be having a big responsibility on his shoulders as there won’t be a lot of experienced bowlers alongside him in the pace department. The left-arm angle of Chetan Sakaria and his ability to swing both ways should keep him in the first-choice XI. 

Besides, in the spin department, the team should stick with Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine for the upcoming season of IPL. 


Kolkata Knight Riders Best Playing XI For IPL 2024

Venkatesh Iyer 
Rahmanullah Gurbaz ✈️
Shreyas Iyer (c)
Nitish Rana
Andre Russell ✈️
Rinku Singh
Sunil Narine ✈️
Mitchell Starc ✈️
Chetan Sakariya
Varun Chakravarthy