Kolkata Knight Riders have announced the list of their retained and released players on January 20, 2021 (Wednesday).  The IPL 2021 Player Auction is scheduled to be held on February 11, 2021, and teams will be looking to address the issues in their squad ahead of the new season of India’s premier T20 tournament. KKR failed to make it into the playoffs last season. Here is the list of players released and retained by KXIP ahead of the 2021 auction. IPL 2021 Auction to Take Place on February 11.

Kolkata Knight Riders finished fifth last season, missing out on a playoff berth on the basis of net run rate. The two-time champions had their ups and downs but also played some brilliant cricket last season and now will be looking to fine-tune their squad before the start of the latest edition. IPL 2021 Players' Auction: February 4 Registration Deadline; No Player Agent Allowed.

Kolkata Knight Riders Retain 17 Players

The two-time champions had to change their captain mid-way through the season, Eoin Morgan taking over the leadership duties from Dinesh Karthik. Many senior players underperformed for KKR last season and the franchise will be hoping to add some new blood into their squad with hopes of not repeating last season’s mistakes.

List of Players Retained by KKR Ahead of IPL 2021 Auction: Dinesh Karthik, Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Eoin Morgan, Rahul Tripathi, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Varun Chakravarthy, Lockie Ferguson, Kuldeep Yadav, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Tim Seifert.

List of Players Released by KKR Ahead of IPL 2021 Auction: Tom Banton, Chris Green, Siddesh Lad, Manimaran Siddharth, Nikhil Naik.

Kolkata Knight Riders haven’t enjoyed much success in recent seasons as they have failed to make it into the playoffs in the last two editions. The franchise have some of the best T20 players in the ranks and will be hoping that with the addition of some new stars, they could win their first title since 2014.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 20, 2021 06:22 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).