Kolkata Knight Riders, a two-time champion, has come up with its best performances when it has looked down and out. Having failed to make the play-off stage as the defending champion last season, KKR, under captain Gautam Gambhir, will be looking to regroup and regain its prominence this season. It will be a big challenge for Gambhir, who has seen his international career fizzle out in recent times.
The arrival of South African great Jacques Kallis as the head coach is significant at this juncture as the team reached its peak under the regime of noted Australian coach Trevor Bayliss, who left the franchise to take up the England job.
Kallis, who has been with the unit since 2011, contributed handsomely as a player in the team’s rise as a formidable force in the league. It will be interesting to see what influence he has on the outfit.
“KKR is my family in India and the association since 2011 has been among the most enjoyable experiences for me,” Kallis said, looking forward to the new challenge.
Cautious approach
In the auction held in February, Knight Riders went in with a cautious approach and roped in explosive New Zealand batsman Colin Munro, Australian pacer John Hastings, India seamer Jaydev Unadkat, West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder and Tamil Nadu cricketer R. Sathish.
Gambhir said he was not keen on having a big squad and was focused on retaining the fulcrum which includes the likes of Manish Pandey, Robin Uthappa, Suryakumar Yadav and Australian Chris Lynn in batting, and pacers Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav and left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav in bowling.
With the mystery spin of Sunil Narine still constricted by the ICC because of a suspect action, KKR will have to find a new match-winner from the available crop.
Among the all-rounders, West Indian Andre Russell, Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan and Yusuf Pathan will need to shoulder greater responsibilities.
In April, owing to the State elections, the team will play the bulk of its matches away. As a result, it will have the advantage of playing five of the last six matches at home, in May. The team did well at home last season but lost crucial away matches, which cost its chances of reaching the play-off stage. This is one area where it needs to improve this season.
The team:
Gautam Gambhir (captain), Manish Pandey, Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Suryakumar Yadav, Colin Munro, Andre Russell, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, John Hastings, Jason Holder, R. Sathish, Manan Sharma, Sheldon Jackson, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Brad Hogg, Morne Morkel, Sunil Narine, Jaydev Unadkat and Ankit Rajpoot. Head coach: Jacques Kallis.
Strengths: The management’s decision to retain the core of the team augurs well for developing good communication. The new head coach Jacques Kallis knows the side inside-out, having been a player and then the batting consultant. |
Weaknesses: Apart from Manish Pandey, not many of the Indian players have gained much international exposure in recent times. Gautam Gambhir will have to do the catching up but he has mostly been playing domestic tournaments recently. The absence of Trevor Bayliss as the coach may have its impact. |
Best finishes: Champion, 2012 and 2014. |
