Aakash Chopra picks KKR's retentions for IPL 2027; leaves out two big overseas stars
Former cricketer Aakash Chopra picked retention choices for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ahead of IPL 2027. Among those to be released, he picked two big overseas stars.
Former cricketer Aakash Chopra picked retention choices for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ahead of IPL 2027. Among those to be released, he picked two big overseas stars.
Aakash Chopra picked star Australia all-rounder Cameron Green to be released, along with Sri Lanka pacer Matheesha Pathirana. Green was bought by KKR for a massive ₹25.20 crore at the IPL 2026 auction. In 14 matches, he scored 322 runs at an average of 32.20 and a strike rate of 145.70, with two fifties. With the ball, he picked up seven wickets from ten innings at an average of 33.42 and an economy rate of 10.63.
Pathirana was acquired by KKR for a huge sum of ₹18 crore at the IPL 2026 auction as well. However, he missed the majority of the season due to injury. Both the overseas stars thus failed to justify their hefty price tags, putting them on Chopra's release list.
His retention list included Finn Allen, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Tim Seifert, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi, Saurabh Dubey, Umran Malik, and Navdeep Saini. Chopra was unsure of a few players and put them in the 'maybe' category. These included Ramandeep Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Rachin Ravindra, and Blessing Muzarabani.
KKR will hunt for their fourth IPL title
After the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Mumbai Indians (MI), who have five IPL titles each, KKR is the third most successful team so far in the history of the league with three titles. They first won in 2012 and got their second title in 2014, both under Gautam Gambhir.
It took them ten long years to win the title once again. In 2024, they lifted the trophy for the third time. However, things have gone south for them since that win. They have failed to make the playoffs in the last two seasons. In 2025, they finished eighth, and they finished seventh last season.
Come the 2027 season, the three-time champions will aim to bounce back in the hunt for a fourth title. Before they do so, they will need to find a new captain to lead them to glory, with Ajinkya Rahane having retired after the 2026 season.
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