The Indian Premier League (IPL) is upon us. And with 10 days remaining, we take a look at 2-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Marred with inconsistent performances off late, the Knights men will be a desperate to regain their glory days.
Fuelled by the return of their trophy winning captain, albeit in a mentorship role, Gautam Gambhir is back. KKR spilled their cash in the IPL 2024 Auction to hugely amp up their squad. The Knights retained their core setup and added fire power in the pace. The Kolkata outfits bagged Mitchell Starc for a whopping sum of 24.75 crores.
KKR begin their IPL campaign on 23rd March when they welcome Sunrisers Hyderabad at the iconic Eden Gardens Stadium. Led from the front by Shreyas Iyer, KKR will be aiming to take an early lead in the IPL Points Table to solidify their spot in the knockout stages.
How Kolkata Knight Riders squad for IPL 2024 look?
The Kolkata Knight Riders have a well balanced squad at their perusal. KKR went on to replace Jason Roy with Phil Salt after the former pulled out of the tournament citing personal reasons. Be it strength in their top order to a reinforced bowling attack, KKR has it all.
Hard hitters like Shreyas Iyer, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Nitish Rana solidify the top order. The Knights have India’s best finisher currently, Rinku Singh at their disposal. Down the order, World Cup winner Mitchell Starc will lead the pace attack, while the veteran Sunil Narine will come handy at any part during the game.
But that’s not all, KKR has a strong roster, where they can alter their lineup depending on what they lack at the moment. Furthermore, the addition of a proven winner in Gautam Gambhir as the mentor will go a long way for the Knight’s Men.
KKR’s Performance in Last years
Despite winning the league twice, KKR has been subpar and inconsistent in their performances off late. The side had a poor outing in their opening seasons. Under Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy, KKR failed to make it to the playoffs. Come Gautam Gambhir they went on to lift the trophy in 2012 and 2014.
They hit a slack midway but made it to the playoffs thrice in a row back in 2016, 2017 and in 2018. Back in 2021 they came close, but ended up being runners-up. The last two seasons have been sub par where they finished 7th on both occasions. And now with a new season approaching, KKR is determined to shake off from their slumber.
Team KKR SWOT Analysis:
Strength
Batting – KKR boasts of having a strong batting lineup. Be it their Indian players or the foreigners, the Men in Purple surely know when to hit the ball hard. Backed up power hitters like Shreyas Iyer, Nithis Rana and Andre Russell, KKR have their strength in their batting.
Down the order, Rinku Singh a strong asset. The southpaw stole the show when he hammered 5 consecutive sixes against Yash Dayal to secure win for his side from the jaws of death.
Bowling – The bowling setup of KKR is also good and well balanced. The Kolkata outfits roped in Mitchell Starc for a price of 24.75 crores, the highest ever for a player in IPL. It is no surprise that he will spearhead the pace attack, backed by Harshit Rana and Dushmantha Chameera. In terms of spin, a plethora of spinners in the form of Sunil Narine, Shakib Al Hasan, Varun Chakravarthy, Mujeeb Ur Rahaman and Suyash Sharma comes in handy.
X-Factor – KKR’s X-Factor comes in their all-rounders and match finishers. Be it Sunil Narine, Andre Russell or Shakib Al Hasan, the squad of KKR is sure to send shiver down the spines of their opponents.
Weakness
Inconsistent – If KKR had a flaw it has to be their inconsistency. The team goes on to play well but then can lose a match from a winning position. Another major flaw in the team is the inability to recover from a bad patch. A strong of poor performances shatters the confidence of the team who then gap hard at what to do next.
Absence of Leadership – KKR is captained by Shreyas Iyer. He is a good player, but a good captain? Probably not. Iyer missed the entirety of IPL 2023 with a back stress fracture as Nitish Rana too charge. The Delhi batter failed to properly command his team as KKR constantly went on to produced poor performances. Furthermore, KKR also has the tendency to rely on aging players like Sunil Narine and Andre Russell who are in their twilight of their career.
KKR’s Key Players
Mitchell Starc – It is a no brainer. KKR broke the bank for the Aussie pacer and he is expected to light up the IPL. The ODI World Cup winner was a vital cog in achieving success for Pat Cummins and his boys. With a price tage of 24.75 crores, the audience from Kolkata will surely pin their high hopes on the speedster.
Rinku Singh – Rinku Singh needs no introduction. The destructive southpaw has proven himself at the big stage. His match winning knocks, especially the 5 sixes against Gujarat Titans was detrimental in Rinku getting a chance in Team India. Backed by strong performances, Rinku Singh is a regular for India in the shortest format of the game.
Sunil Narine – He might he passed his prime, but as the saying goes – Form is temporary, Class is Permanent. Sunil Narine is a player who can don any role in the team. Not only can he open, he can finish matches at the lower order. Not only can he bowl in the powerplay, he is a run choker in the middle overs and a match winner in the death overs.
KKR Squad For IPL 2024 –
Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Shreyas Iyer (c), Phil Salt, Sunil Narine, Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, KS Bharat, Chetan Sakariya, Mitchell Starc, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ramandeep Singh, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Dushmantha Chameera, Sakib Hussain.
KKR Fixtures in IPL 2024 –
| DATE | Day | Home | Away | VENUE | TIME |
| March 23 | SAT | KKR | SRH | Kolkata | 19:30 |
| March 29 | FRI | RCB | KKR | Bengaluru | 19:30 |
| April 3 | WED | DC | KKR | Vizag | 19:30 |
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