KOLKATA: Kolkata Knight Riders released Australia opener Aaron Finch and Indian pacer Shivam Mavi on November 15, ahead of the IPL mini-auction scheduled to take place on December 23.
Finch was roped in as a replacement for Alex Hales in the Knight Riders squad last year. The batter played in 92 matches and scored 2091 runs, averaging 25.19 with the best score of 88*.
The 2018 U-19 World Cup produced three unique talents for the Knight Riders. Shivam Mavi was retained by KKR despite injury issues throughout the years, even though Shubman Gill and Kamlesh Nagarkoti left.
Along with Aaron Finch, Pat Cummins, Sam Billings, Mohammad Nabi, and all-rounder Chamika Karunaratne, the right-arm seamer, who could also bat a little, is leaving the team as per ESPNcricinfo.
Over the course of 32 games, Mavi claimed 30 wickets at an 8.71 economy. The past season was his poorest, with an economy of 10.32 in six matches played, despite the fact that IPL 2021 was his finest year, with 11 wickets in nine games at a 7.24 economy.
Currently, the six players that were released would add INR 19.5 crore to KKR's purse. While Billings was purchased for INR 2 crore, Mavi and Cummins were each purchased for INR 7.25 crore (about USD 0.97 million).
Karunaratne was bought for INR 50 lakh, while Nabi was purchased for INR 1 crore. Hales was replaced by Finch for INR 1.5 crore.
Remember that the effective purse size for Knight Riders is significantly smaller than the INR 19.5 crore stated above when taken as a whole due to the addition of Shardul, Gurbaz, and Ferguson as well as the loss of Aman Khan.
