Based on the assembled squad, here’s a look at how KKR could field their strongest playing XI for the upcoming IPL 2025 season.
After some top-notch work with retentions, where Kolkata Knight Riders secured key players like Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh, KKR made some smarter acquisitions in the IPL 2025 mega auction in Jeddah. on November 24 and 25.
After Day 1 and Day 2 of the auction, KKR has a total of 14 players in their team. Their most expensive purchase at the auction turned out to be Venkatesh Iyer as he was bought for a whopping sum of INR 23.75 crore. His next biggest purchase was Anrich Nortje for Rs 6.5 crore. The rest of the players arrived at a really bargain price. Let’s see what their squad looks like for IPL 2025.
KKR Player List and Squad for IPL 2025:
Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, Ramandeep Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Anrich Nortje, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Rovman Powell
Based on the squad assembled above, let’s see how KKR could arrange their strongest playing XI for the upcoming IPL 2025 season.
Also Read: KKR and RCB engaged in intense bidding war for Indian Star in IPL 2025 auction! 23.75 crores disbursed as winning bid
KKR playing strongest XI for IPL 2025:
Sunil Narine Quinton de Kock (wk) Angkrish Raghuvanshi Venkatesh Iyer Rinku Singh Andre Russell Ramandeep Singh Harshit Rana Anrich Nortje Varun Chakravarthy Vaibhav Arora
Bench: Mayank Markande, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rovman Powell
Strongest points:
Strong batting line-up with a proper balance between pace and spin hitters. Batting is also deep up to number 8. Strong spin bowling duo of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. Equally good substitutes for de Kock and Russell in Gurbaz and Powell respectively. Strong Indian pace bowling pair of Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora
Weakest points:
Anrich Nortje’s recent form has not been good and he has also struggled with his fitness.
Who will captain KKR in IPL 2025?
Going by KKR’s retentions and the way they went about their business in the auction, it looks like KKR will opt for either Rinku Singh or Venkatesh Iyer as their captain for the upcoming IPL season. Both are moving up in their careers and have established themselves as players with high potential. Taking responsibility for any of them now will not only raise their profile but also help maintain continuity in KKR as they have been associated with the franchise for a long time.