In the first three seasons of the IPL, the highest Kolkata Knight Riders could finish on the table was sixth in an eight-team tournament. But in the next four editions, they grabbed the title two times (2012, 2014), besides finishing runners-up in the Champions League T20 last year. Miracle. Hard work. Team effort. Call it anything you want, but their run has been fascinating and only the bionic Chennai Super Kings have more success in those two events combined.
May be it has something to do with the appointment of Gautam Gambhir as the skipper. The little Delhi man is a grim fighter, and he made fight a culture in the Kolkata team. He also ensured that the Knight Riders would retain their key players like Robin Uthappa, Sunil Narine and Manish Pandey and that continuity has played a big role in the team putting up consistent performances. They have not even let go Yusuf Pathan, who has not delivered with the bat as expected, and the players would naturally be eager to perform once the management places so much faith in them.
There was a cloud of doubt over the availability of Narine after the BCCI banned him for a suspect bowling action during last year’s Champions League. But now that he has been allowed to bowl in this IPL, it will only bolster their attack. But by no means, it is a one-man army. They have a vastly potent pace line-up, consisting Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav, Pat Cummins and Andre Russell, and all of them had a more than reasonable outing in the World Cup.
This time, they also have the ‘mystery spinner’ from Karnataka, KC Cariappa at their disposal. But their batting could be bit of a worry. Of course, Uthappa has been in fine touch throughout the domestic season. They also lost Jimmy Neesham and Chris Lynn to injuries and have drafted in Azhar Mahmood and Johan Botha as replacements. Botha will also act as a cover for Shakib Al Hasan as the Bangladesh all-rounder will be miss a part of the IPL due to the series against Pakistan next month.
The squad
Indian players: Gautam Gambhir (capt), Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Umesh Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Sheldon Jackson, Sumit Narwal, Aditya Garhwal, Yusuf Pathan, Vaibhav Rawal, KC Cariappa, Kuldeep Yadav, Veer Pratap Singh, Surya Kumar Yadav.
Foreign signings: Morne Morkel, Pat Cummins, Johan Botha, Azhar Mahmood, Shakib Al Hasan, Brad Hogg, Andre Russell, Ryan ten Doeschate.
IPL Record:
2008: Sixth, 2009: Eighth, 2010: Sixth, 2011: Fourth, 2012: Winner, 2013: Seventh; 2014: Winner.