Hyderabad: After finishing the season at number six last year, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) must be eyeing the third Indian Premier League title under the leadership trio of captain Shreyas Iyer, Coach Chandrakant Pandit and mentor Gautam Gambhir. They will be looking to embark upon a journey towards glory after spending a whopping ₹31.35 crore in the mini auction before the start of the season. They have made some changes in their bowling lineup ahead of the upcoming season and will be hoping for a change in the result.
Kolkata Knight Riders will kick off their campaign with the fixture against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at their home ground in Eden Gardens on March 23.
Strengths
- Indian batting core
KKR have one of the finest Indian batting cores for the upcoming season of the IPL. After missing the previous season, the return of captain Shreyas Iyer will strengthen their middle order as he brings a huge experience to the table. Apart from him, they have Manish Pandey, vice-captain Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, and Rinku Singh.
Rinku Singh had a perfect 2023 season. No one can forget his heroics against Gujarat Titans when he hammered left-arm pacer Yash Dayal for five consecutive sixes when the team needed 28 off five balls to win the match. Nitish Rana, who led the franchise last year, scored 413 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 140.96 while Vyankatesh Iyer had 404 runs at a strike rate of 145.85 in 14 matches. The inclusion of Pandey can be strategic but can play the anchor role and hold the innings for them.
- Strong Overseas Roster
KKR faced a serious challenge last year due to the unavailability of quality pacers in the attack except for Lockie Ferguson. But, they have now acquired the services of Mitchell Starc, the most expensive player in the history of the tournament, who can bowl in any phase of the match. He will receive assistance from Dushmantha Chameera, and Andre Russell alongside mystery spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Sunil Narine. They have backups for almost every bowler which is exceptional from the team management.
They have also tried to address the power hitter issue with the signings of Sherfane Rutherford, and wicket-keeper batters Phil Salt, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz who can turn the match on their heads. If one of Rinku Singh and Andre Russell gets injured, they have ensured that they still have the power hitters available in the squad who can finish the game with some quick runs.
Weakness
While Starc will be the first-choice bowler for KKR, they might face a lack of an experienced Indian pacer to share the ball with him. Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora didn't have a perfect season last year and they also lack experience, having not played more than 20 IPL matches in their career. Skipper Iyer would again look to Andre Russell or Sunil Narine and their recent form especially with the ball hasn't been great, to bowl in the death overs.
Opportunity
Phil Salt is someone who can open the innings as well as in the middle order and can solve the dilemma around the role of the wicketkeeper as well. He made his IPL debut last season and played nine matches for Delhi Capitals scoring 218 runs at an impressive strike rate of 163.91 including two fifties. He has the ability to go hung-ho right from the start and turn the game on its head within a blink of an eye. The Eden Gardens pitch will also suit him as the ball comes nicely on the bat. In addition to that the ground’s boundary dimensions are also shorter here.
Manish Pandey, who was released by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) after having a disastrous last season, will be hoping for a change in fortune as he comes back to the franchise where he has scored most of the runs of his career. With Gautam Gambhir in the dugout, captain of the trophy-winning KKR team, he must be looking for his redemption as a batter and eyeing to play a few match-winning knocks for the team.
Threat
Injuries to their players will be the biggest threat for KKR. Their skipper Shreyas Iyer suffered a back spasm during the Ranji Trophy Final and didn’t take the field on the fourth and fifth day of the summit clash. Injury to Russell, who has recently featured in West Indies’ T20 squad for the three-match series against Australia down under, can put the side in serious trouble as they will be left with no reliable finisher apart from Rinku Singh.
They'll have to figure out their playing XI quickly as they struggled to find the right combination specifically with the opening pair for the last two or three seasons.
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