Knight Riders name Dinesh Karthik as captain for IPL 11

KKR squad for IPL 11: Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Chris Lynn, Mitchell Starc, Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Kuldeep Singh Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Nitish Rana, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Mitchell Johnson, Shubman Gill, Ranganath Vinay Kumar, Rinku Singh, Cameron Delport, Javon Searless, Apoorv Vijay Wankhade, Ishank Jaggi

Uthappa was however, named the vice-captain of Kolkata Knight Riders. Me and Dinesh have known each other since our U-17 days, it will be great to play under someone like him, said Uthappa.

Kolkata Knight Riders will kick-off their season against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday, April 08, 2018.

But the fact that went in Karthik’s favour was his experience as a leader. He has successfully led IPL franchise Delhi Daredevils and has been leading his state side Tamil Nadu for the last few years.

Interestingly Robin himself had expressed desires of leading the side, which he has been a part of since 2014. “I’ll be honoured if the opportunity came along but it’s for the think-tank to decide - whatever role they want me to take, I’ll give my 110%. Adding value to my team as a cricketer is crucial to my game,” he was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

Karthik was picked up by Knight Riders by a whopping 7.4 crores in the IPL auctions earlier this year.

There were numerous reports of Lynn being thought about as Gambhir’s replacement as skipper but the Australian lost out after falling prey to yet another injury, which also ruled him out of ongoing Pakistan Super League. However, Lynn will be available for IPL.

Karthik beat Robin Uthappa, Australian blistering batsman Chirs Lynn and West Indian all-rounder Sunil Narine to become the captain of KKR.

The 2012 and 2014 champions decided to go with Dinesh Kathik after Gautam Gambhir’s seven-year long run with them.

KKR became the first franchise to announce their captain on live television on the official broadcasters Star Sports. CEO Venky Mysore did the honours.

Dinesh Karthik was named as the new captain of KKR.

After online poling, sessions with former captain Sourav Ganguly and endless speculations, Kolkata Knight Riders have finally zeroed in on their leader for IPL season 11.