Kolkata Knight Riders. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)
After finishing seventh on the points table in IPL 2022, two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders have made some terrific acquisitions ahead of the new season. They have recruited Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson and Rahmanullah Gurbaz through the trading window while signing quality players like Shakib Al Hasan, David Wiese and Narayan Jagadeesan at the IPL auction.
With that, it will be interesting to see if the Knight Riders can once again qualify for the playoffs and compete for the title.
The task will be difficult, especially with their skipper Shreyas Iyer out for a significant part of the tournament. On top of that, Andre Russell’s fitness is also something that the franchise needs to keep an eye on as the all-rounder carries the risk of getting injured.
Other than that, they have a fine squad that can fight for the title but for that to happen, the senior players need to live up to their potential. However, since there is more to it, let’s dissect the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Knight Riders this season:
Strengths:
Make hay in the powerplay
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Photo Source: Twitter)
Kolkata, in the last seasons, have often failed to take advantage of the powerplay. Back when they had a successful run in the tournament, the opening pair of Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa or Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine used to give them flying starts.
Last year, Aaron Finch/Ajinkya Rahane, started the innings with Venkatesh Iyer but failed to build any momentum up the order. However, with Narayan Jagadeesan and Rahmanullah Gurbaz available this time, one can expect things to change.
Jagadeesan is someone who likes to settle down before launching an attack. This would give a lot of freedom to Gurbaz who loves to smash the ball right from the word go and can thus help the team establish itself in the powerplay. Notably, the 21-year-old has played 124 T20 matches and has 3104 runs to his name, at a strike rate of 150.24.
Thus, the combination of Jagadeesan and Gurbaz can give a perfect start to Kolkata which the middle order can later capitalise on.
Sunil Narine: Ageing like a fine wine
Sunil Narine. (Photo Source: ILT20)
Despite playing 439 T20 matches all across the globe, spin wizard Sunil Narine has an economy rate of less than six leading into IPL 2023. Last year, even though he didn’t pick up a lot of wickets, he was fantastic with the ball and this year too, he will once again be a force to be reckoned with.
With the home-and-away format coming back, the 34-year-old will get a lot of advantages from playing in different conditions which suit his bowling.
Hell for leather approach
Andre Russell. (Photo Source: Zee 5)
The trio of Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Shardul Thakur can help Knight Riders finish well in most of the matches. They don’t take much time to settle in and that is going to be a massive strength for Kolkata this season.
Notably, Russell has a strike rate of 177.88 in the cash-rich league while Narine has a strike rate of 162.70. The duo has helped KKR win multiple matches with the bat in the past and the franchise will expect the duo to continue its explosive run this season as well.
When it comes to Shardul, the Mumbai-born cricketer was bought by KKR with the hope of extending their tail. Although Thakur’s consistency with the bat would be a factor to keep an eye on, the 31-year-old does have the ability to deliver quick runs from time to time. He has done this for the national team in the past and now Knight Riders would expect him to do it in the IPL as well.
The astute tactician Chandrakant Pandit
Chandrakant Pandit. (Photo Source: Twitter)
Kolkata Knight Riders surprised everyone by introducing Chandrakant Pandit as their new head coach ahead of the season. Usually, the trend of appointing domestic coaches is rare in the IPL but KKR nevertheless went after the veteran, who has previously clinched many Ranji Trophies with Mumbai before guiding Madhya Pradesh to their maiden Ranji title.
The 61-year-old is not just a regular coach but a hard taskmaster. He loves to dictate the game sitting outside and given his experience, he can exert a positive influence on the team.
Weaknesses:
Rookie skipper
Nitish Rana. (Photo Source: Twitter)
Although Nitish Rana has captained Delhi in domestic cricket, the middle-order batter lacks experience and has particularly never done it in the IPL.
Over the years, it has been established that the captain can change the course of a game in T20 cricket, just like how MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma have done in the past and that’s where Rana’s abilities will be tested. It thus forms one such area where KKR might suffer in the forthcoming season.
Death over specialist?
Lockie Ferguson. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)
Death overs is one area where the team has suffered the most in the past few years. This time, they have Lockie Ferguson who can take control of the situation but it can’t be said for certain whether or not he will play every game for the franchise.
In case he misses out, Russell and Shardul will be responsible to tackle the situation but both of them are known for conceding a lot of runs in the death overs. Thus, problems are plenty for the Knight Riders as far as the last four overs of the tournament are concerned.
Opportunities:
Underdogs to champions
Kolkata Knight Riders. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)
Kolkata Knight Riders may not be among the favourites to win the trophy this season with some fans on the internet even predicting that the team may finish last, following Shreyas’ unavailability for the majority of the season, if not the entirety of the season. They can thus be termed as ‘underdogs’.
Thus, KKR will have the brilliant opportunity to prove everyone wrong and finish as the champions. A couple of years back, when they were struggling to get going, the Eoin Morgan-led side suddenly changed everything about them and qualified for the finals.
Thus, despite being often considered underdogs, they have shown in the past what they are capable of and would be chasing success this season as well. With all the pieces falling in place, Knight Riders do have the steel to finish the season on a high.
Threats:
Lack of quality Indian batters
Shreyas Iyer. (Photo Source: Twitter/IndianPremierLeague)
Unfortunately, no one in the team can replace Shreyas Iyer properly in the playing XI. Even though they have quality players like Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh and Mandeep Singh in the mix, KKR lacks a solid middle-order Indian batter who can perform consistently throughout the tournament.
Shreyas did that last year but this year, it will be interesting to see who carries the responsibility. At least, on paper, they lack someone in the middle order who can score about 450-500 runs in a season.
Injury prone cricketers
Varun Chakravarthy. (Photo Source: Twitter)
Players like Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy and Lockie Ferguson are always under the microscope due to their nature of being prone to injuries. The Kiwi speedster is already dealing with a hamstring injury and may miss a few matches.
When it comes to Russell, KKR had to suffer a lot in the past because of his injuries. Even though they have David Wiese as a likely replacement for him but it would still be unaffordable for Knight Riders to go ahead without Russell in the mix.
KKR full squad: Nitish Rana (Captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, Narayan Jagadeesan, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma, David Weise, Kulwant Khejrolia, Mandeep Singh, Litton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Shreyas Iyer
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