‘We weren't far away last time’, KKR head coach Brendon McCullum believes ‘KKR to be very competitive’ in IPL 2021

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) head coach Brendon McCullum believes that the team will be at its aggressive best in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). While a couple of franchises released some of the big players ahead of the mini-auction, KKR chose to keep their core team intact.

Australian spearhead Pat Cummins is one the cricketers who found his name on KKR's list of retained players. The right-arm pacer was bought for ₹15.5 crores for the previous season and will once again be seen donning purple and gold.

McCullum was pleased to retain the core squad for the upcoming tournament and said his team will be very competitive in this year's IPL.

“Pleased that we have been able to retain majority of our @KKRiders for the upcoming @IPL season. We weren't far away last time and I'm sure this group will be very competitive this year. Thanks to the guys who were released for your efforts last season. We wish you well,” McCullum said in a tweet on Thursday.

Pleased that we have been able to retain majority of our @KKRiders for the upcoming @IPL season. We weren’t far away last time and I’m sure this group will be very competitive this year. Thanks to the guys who were released for your efforts last season. We wish you well. 💜

— Brendon McCullum (@Bazmccullum) January 21, 2021

KKR released Tom Banton and Chris Green while retaining New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson, West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell and Sunil Narine.

KKR retained players: Eoin Morgan, Shubman Gill, Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Varun Chakravarthy, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Tim Seifert, Rinku Singh.

Released players: Chris Green, Siddesh Lad, Nikhil Naik, M Siddharth, Tom Banton.

In the 2020 season, KKR had missed the playoffs by a whisker due to net run-rate and the side finished the season at the fifth spot. The side also opted for a captaincy change midway and Dinesh Karthik passed the baton to England white-ball leader Eoin Morgan.

KKR has won the IPL twice (2012 and 2014) and both the title wins came under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir.

(With Agency Inputs)