New Delhi, Oct. 29 -- The Indian Premier League (IPL) retention deadline is round the corner. With the IPL 2027 mini-auction set for December 16 in Goa, the retention deadline closes a month before the auction - November 15. Before the deadline, all the 10 IPL franchises will have to submit their list of retained and released players before going into the auction.

One of the busiest franchises during this time would be Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Besides zeroing on their captain, after Ajinkya Rahane retired, the three-time champions will also have to look at the top of the order, something that bothered KKR last year, especially the form of New Zealand's hard-hitting batter Finn Allen.

While Allen and Rahane started as KKR's opening p...