Kolkata Knight Riders will be bidding for their third IPL title when IPL 2024 gets underway.
With Shreyas Iyer returning as captain and KKR legend Gautam Gambhir back in the Knights dressing room, the former champs will enter the 17th season of the league, determined to lay hands on their third title.
The Knights camp is buzzing after roping in Gambhir as team mentor. Gambhir led KKR to both its IPL titles. Having touched down in the City of Joy amidst much fanfare, Gambhir -- who led the Lucknow Super Giants to the playoffs in two consecutive seasons -- is back in his favourite hunting ground.
A look at the strengths and weaknesses of the Kolkata franchise:
Strengths
After lifting the trophy for the second time in 2014, KKR have qualified for the playoffs on four occasions, reaching the finals once. After a poor run last season, the Knights will hope to bounce back and seal a playoffs spot this year.
One of the biggest positives for the Knights is their strong Indian batting line-up. With the in-form Rinku Singh a lethal weapon in the line-up, along with the returning Iyer and Manish Pandey, KKR can bank on their batters to deliver.
Rinku -- the Knights' most prized possession -- has the support of KKR veteran Andre Russell and Sherfane Rutherford. Both have established themselves as the players you want in the death overs. On a given day they can take the bowlers to the cleaners.
Knights boosted the bowling by hiring Mitchell Starc at the December auction for a record-breaking Rs 24.75 crores (Rs 247.5 million). Plus the dual threat of spinners Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy puts rival teams on constant alert.
Young bowlers Chetan Sakariya and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, along with the likes of Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora, makes the KKR bowling line-up a special one.
Weaknesses
With Iyer not making a solid comeback from injury, the threat of losing the skipper once again may put the Knights on the back foot. Furthermore, their reliance on Iyer and Nitish Rana is another weak point, a vulnerable middle-order which opponents might expose.
Both Russell and Narine are match-winners, but their recent dip in form is a concern for KKR.
Furthermore, death bowling may be an area of concern, with Starc susceptible to injury.
The Knights endured a tough run in IPL 2023, finishing seventh on the ten team points table.
Rinku Singh was the biggest takeaway for the Kolkata side last season as he came to KKR's rescue on several occasions -- the most memorable being the five sixes he hammered when KKR needed 29 to defeat Gujarat Titans.
Varun Chakravarthy led the bowling attack, bagging 20 wickets.
KKR won the IPL title in 2012 and 2014.
- In 2012, the Knights defeated Chennai Super Kings by five wickets at the M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
- In 2014, KKR defeated Punjab Kings by three wickets to win the final.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Batters
Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Sherfane Rutherford, Rinku Singh, Srikar Bharat, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Nitish Rana, Phil Salt, Angkrish Raghuvanshi
Bowlers
Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Chetan Sakariya, Suyash Sharma, Dushmantha Chameera, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Mitchell Starc, Varun Chakravarthy, Sakib Hussain
All-rounders
Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy
Coach: Chandrakant Pandit
