Kolkata Knight Riders last won the Indian Premier League (IPL) back in 2014, the second time in their history having clinched the title two years prior. KKR will gun for the IPL 2024 title again and with the return of Gautam Gambhir as mentor of the team. The Delhi-born Kolkata’s son had captained KKR to the two IPL triumphs.
Shreyas Iyer will return too as captain and despite uncertainties over his fitness, will hope to play a crucial role in the KKR resurgence. With the loss of the BCCI central contract and the future of his place in the Indian middle-order under question, the Mumbai star recently lifted the Ranji Trophy title.
Chandrakant Pandit, remains the coach of the side with Abhishek Nayar as his assistant. Bharat Arun is still in charge of bowling and Ryan Ten Doeschate of fielding, the KKR management appears packed with talent.
At the auction, KKR went all out to address a major flaw in their armoury, as they bought Mitchell Starc for an eye-watering Rs 24.75 crore. Chetan Sakariya was also brought in to bring spruce up their pace bowling attack. Sherfane Rutherford, in fine form for the West Indies, can be a worthy understudy to Andre Russell and Afghanistan’s Mujeeb Ur Rahman likewise for Sunil Narine.
Also Read: Full List of KKR Squad After IPL 2024 Auction
As for domestic signings, Indian wicket-keeper KS Bharat was bought as an Indian option behind the stumps. Manish Pandey also returned to KKR and along with Ramandeep Singh will provide cover in batting.
Just before the start of the season, KKR replaced Gus Atkinson with Dushmantha Chameera and Phil Salt with Jason Roy pulling out.
How They Fared Last Time
KKR ended up seventh on the points table with six victories and eight losses, gathering just 12 points in the regular season. They had a negative net run rate of 0.239 at the end of the season and missed out on the playoffs by quite some margin.
Top Players to Watch Out For
Rinku Singh: The emergence of the star finisher was the find for not only Kolkata Knight Riders but Indian cricket as a whole. The left-hander has been winning matches consistently for UP too in the domestic circuit and on his strong shoulders will rest the expectations of a boisterous Eden Gardens crowd.
Suyash Sharma: The willy spinner has been performing well in the Syed Mustaq Ali tournament and on expected slow and turning wickets at Eden Gardens will surely be a handful. Suyash, after a breakthrough debut season last year, will hope to build on his performances and star regularly for the Knights.
Shreyas Iyer: The captain fantastic will look to prove doubters wrong with the bat and solidify his number 4 spot in the national set-up. His back withstanding, a season of runs flowing will surely shut up his detractors.
KKR Strongest Playing XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (C), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Mitchell Starc, Chetan Sakariya, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma (SUB)
Full Squad: Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat, Rahmanullah Gurbaz*, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sherfane Rutherford*, Manish Pandey, Andre Russell*, Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine*, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma, Mitchell Starc*, Dushmantha Chameera*, Sakib Hussain, Mujeeb Ur Rahman*.
Kolkata Knight Riders Full Schedule
March 23 – KKR vs SRH – Kolkata
March 29 – RCB vs KKR – Bengaluru
April 3 – DC vs KKR – Visakhapatnam
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