Captain: Shreyas Iyer
Coaching Staff: Brendon McCullum (head coach), Abhishek Nair (assistant coach), B Arun (bowling coach), Onkar Salvi (assistant bowling coach) and James Foster (fielding coach)
Owner: Knight Riders Sports Private Limited
best performance: Winner 2012, 2014
2021 Performance: Runner-up. Lost to CSK in the final
Shaft
Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Pat Cummins, Nitish Rana, Shivam Mavi, Sheldon Jackson, Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Rasikh Dar, Baba Inderjit, Chamika Karunaratne, Abhijit Tomar , Pratham Singh, Ashok Sharma, Sam Billings, Aaron Finch, Tim Southee, Ramesh Kumar, Mohammad Nabi, Umesh Yadav
availability of players
Aaron Finch, who came in after Alex Hales’ IPL exit citing bubble fatigue, will not be available for the first handful of games due to Australia’s white-ball series against Pakistan, which ends on April 5. Pat Cummins is flying back to Australia after the Pakistan Test series to attend Shane Warne’s memorial on March 30. He will not be able to play the first three matches. With New Zealand set to tour England for three Tests in early June, Tim Southee could miss the playoffs and KKR should reach the final.
batting
Last year, KKR made a sharp change in the second half of the season played in the UAE. One of the main reasons for the change in his fortunes was Venkatesh Iyer. After buying Shreyas Iyer in the auction this year, he has two Iyers in his team. Luckily for KKR, both Iyers are in form. Venkatesh, who scored 370 runs last season, continued his good form by scoring 155 runs at a strike rate of 140 in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy. He also made his India debut and impressed with his stellar cameo against West Indies. Though he played as a finisher for India, KKR would like him to open the innings like last year.
For Shreyas, everything seems to be going well. At Rs 12.25 crore, he became the costliest pure batsman selected in the auction. He won the Player of the Series title with three consecutive fifties in T20Is against Sri Lanka. He was the Player of the Match in the only ODI against West Indies and then in the second Test against Sri Lanka. KKR then named him the captain, a confidence booster after Delhi Capitals refused to reinstate him as captain last year.
This season could provide a lifeline for Ajinkya Rahane, who has lost his place in the Indian team and often finds himself on the bench in the IPL. At KKR, Rahane is likely to get a decent run in the top order, a position that suits his style of play. His strike rate is not promising, but he doesn’t have any other good options. Sam Billings, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Pat Cummins form a strong lower order.
bowling
KKR have great bowlers. He has three mystery spinners in Sunil Narine, Varun Chakraborty and Ramesh Kumar. For the pace, they have Cummins, Umesh Yadav and Shivam Mavi. He also has Tim Southee to control and take advantage of the new ball. Add to this the all-round options of Russell, Mohammad Nabi and Venkatesh. Their bowling will probably revolve around the spin of Naren and Chakravati. And if the rest of the bowlers can support the pair, then it will be a big challenge for the opposition to put up a big total or chase down the target against the two-time champions.
Probable playing XI
1. Venkatesh Iyer, 2. Ajinkya Rahane, 3. Shreyas Iyer (c), 4. Nitish Rana, 5. Sam Billings (wk), 6. Andre Russell, 7. Sunil Narine, 8. Pat Cummins, 9. Shivam Mavi , 10. Umesh Yadav, 11. Varun Chakraborty
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