While the IPL 2018 auction was certainly a breakthrough story, it also witnessed a number of surprising combinations between the players and the franchises. CSK veteran Ravichandran Ashwin joined Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), while Harbhajan Singh who has donned the Mumbai Indians (MI) outfit for a decade of IPL filled in Ashwin’s void.

On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), with its pool of 19 players, has the smallest bench strength this season. The two-time champions KKR decided to let go of Gautam Gambhir who led the squad since 2012 and guided them to both the triumphs. In his absence, KKR now has three core batsmen in Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik, and Chris Lynn.

Despite interest from many franchises, wicket-keeper batsman Robin Uthappa was retained by the KKR team management and the gloveman is glad to be back. The franchise retained him through the RTM card option for ₹6.4 crores in the IPL auctions earlier last month.

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Uthappa has also indicated at a possible leadership role and stated he would be ‘honoured’ if he’s offered with it. Speaking on the same lines, as quoted in Sportstar, Uthappa said, “Of course, I am. I’ll be honored 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 percent. Adding value to my team as a cricketer is crucial to my game.”

Instead of going after big-shots, KKR rather decided to invest in local talents like Ishank Jaggi and Nitish Rana. Speaking about the team management’s decision to invest on youngsters, Robin reckons that the young cricketers will make a mark in the tournament.

However, two signings which gathered a lot of eyeballs was that of India U-19 stars Shubman Gill and Kamlesh Nagarkoti. Both the cricketer featured in India’s world cup winning squad last week. Shubman, 19, struck three half-centuries and a century and was adjudged ‘Player of the tournament’ for his heroics. Born just before the turn of the millennium, Shubman is one of the brightest promising cricketers of Indian cricket and his performance serves as a testimonial to that. Robin Uthappa too shared the same notion and reckons KKR has a bright future in the coming years.