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Two-time Indian T20 League champions, team Kolkata decided to stick to their core players after a mixed 2020 campaign in UAE where the side had missed the play-offs narrowly for their inferior run rate.

However, with the tournament coming back to India’s favourable conditions, the management has decided to stick to their big guns and the emerging stars from last season. Team Kolkata had released five players and retained 17 going into the 2021 auction with a purse of Rs 10.85 crore in their wallet.

Among the list of players released by Kolkata were Tom Banton, Chris Green, Nikhil Naik, Siddharth M and Siddhesh Lad.

Kolkata fans weren’t expecting their side to go gung-ho for a big name, as was the case with Rajasthan, Punjab and Bangalore, but invest in some witty buys. And their franchise has lived up to the expectations.

Getting in the massively likes of Ben Cutting, Shakib-al-Hasan and Harbhajan Singh give a cushion of all-rounders to the side.

Players Bought: Shakib Al Hasan (Rs 3.2 crores), Sheldon Jackson (Rs 20 lakhs), Vaibhav Arora (Rs 20 lakhs), Karun Nair (Rs 50 lakhs), Harbhajan Singh (Rs 2 crores), Ben Cutting (75 lakhs), Pawan Negi (50 lakhs), Venkatesh Iyer (20 lakhs)

Team Kolkata Full Squad: Eoin Morgan (C), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Tim Seifert, Shakib Al Hasan, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Karun Nair, Harbhajan Singh, Ben Cutting, Pawan Negi, Venkatesh Iyer.

Feature Image courtesy: AFP/ Dibyangshu Sarkar

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