Kolkata Knight Riders, two-time champions, will be heading into IPL 2022 hoping to do one better than their runners-up performance from the 2021 edition: here’s the full squad list, team news, replacements, injury updates and coaching staff for KKR ahead of season 15 of the Indian Premier League.

After an indifferent start to their 2021 campaign, KKR roared back into contention in the second half of the IPL. Led by Eoin Morgan, they dispatched almost every challenge in their wake, ultimately falling short at the final hurdle against Chennai Super Kings. It is against CSK that they will start their Tata IPL 2022 campaign in the tournament opener on March 26.

Before the IPL 2022 auction, KKR retained Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Venkatesh Iyer, meaning that they had a decent core to work with. At the auction, they acquired the likes of Nitish Rana, Pat Cummins and Shreyas Iyer, with overseas stars such as Chamika Karunaratne, Mohammad Nabi, Sam Billings and Tim Southee also coming through the door.

Alex Hales, who hasn’t played an international game for England since March 2019, was also bought at the auction. However, he has since pulled out of the tournament, with KKR procuring the services of Australia’s T20 captain Aaron Finch.

In Shreyas, KKR seem to have found a captain chomping at the bit to leave his mark. The rest of the star cast, namely Charavarthy, Narine and Russell also have their respective points to prove. Venkatesh, who was superb during India’s recent T20I assignments is also expected to play a pivotal role as the franchise looks to go one step further than last season.

Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2022: Full squad

Retained players

Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer

Players bought in the auction

Indian: Abhijeet Tomar, Ajinkya Rahane, Pratham Singh, Ramesh Kumar, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Ashok Sharma, Rasikh Dar, Umesh Yadav, Aman Khan, Anukul Roy, Nitish Rana, Shivam Mavi, Baba Indrajith, Sheldon Jackson

Foreign players: Chamika Karunaratne, Mohammad Nabi, Pat Cummins, Sam Billings, Tim Southee

Player(s) signed as replacement

Aaron Finch (for Alex Hales)

Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2022: Team news

Kolkata Knight Riders kick off their season against defending champions CSK at the Wankhede Stadium on 26th March. KKR have been placed in Group A. They will play two matches against each of Delhi Capitals, Lucknow Super Giants, Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals. KKR are also placed in the same row as Sunrisers Hyderabad from Group B and will play them twice this season in the league stages.

Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2022: Full KKR support staff

Brendon McCullum, Head Coach

Abhishek Nayar, Assistant Coach

David Hussey, Mentor

Omkar Salvi, Assistant Bowling Coach

James Foster, Fielding Coach

Chris Donaldson, Strength & Conditioning Coach

Kamlesh Jain, Head Physiotherapist

AR Srikkanth, Performance Analyst

Wayne Bentley, Team Manager

Bharat Arun, Bowling Coach