KKR SWOT Analysis: Can Kolkata Knight Riders lift their third Indian Premier League trophy? | cricket news

After a lackluster performance last season, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are keen to get off to a good start in the Indian Premier League 2024 under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer. In the December 2023 mini-auction, they spent a whopping INR 3,135 crore, with Mitchell Starc being their most expensive acquisition. In the previous edition, KKR finished seventh in the points table, winning 6 games and losing 8 games. They have failed to qualify for the IPL playoffs since 2021.

However, the return of Gautam Gambhir, one of KKR’s favorite sons, will boost the team’s morale. After serving with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Gambhir will captain his team to win two IPL trophies.

Apart from acquiring Starc’s services for next season, Kolkata also purchased Chetan Sakariya, KS Bharat, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ramandeep Singh, Sakib Hussain, Manish Pandey and Sherfane Rutherford in the mini-auction. Captain Shreyas Iyer, who missed the 2023 season due to injury, will also return to the team.

According to the IPL 2024 schedule released by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Kolkata Knight Riders will host Sunrisers Hyderabad in the third match of the league on March 23 at Eden Gardens.

As KKR prepares for the upcoming IPL season, let’s take a look at their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

strength

Kolkata Knight Riders are one of the few teams in the IPL who have an explosive batting line-up. Players like Phil Salt, Rahmanullah Gubaz, Shreyas Iyer, Rinku Singh, Dre Russ (Andre Russell), Sherfane Rutherford, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana and Sunil Narine have shown their toughness in the past.

Although Narine has not performed with the bat in recent seasons, he has always managed to get the ball in his hands with his spin wizardry and has mesmerized batsmen over the years. His spin partner Varun Chakravarthy is another efficient player of spin that the KKR team management can unleash on the spin-friendly pitch at Eden Gardens. He took 20 wickets in IPL 2023 and will hope to enjoy another solid season in 2024.

Apart from Narine and Chakravarthy, the Knight Riders also acquired the services of Mujeeb Ur Rahman. The Afghanistan right-arm break bowler, who is the youngest player in the history of ODI cricket to take five wickets, will surely add more options to KKR’s spin arsenal.

weakness

A strong batting line-up and a powerful spin attack are not the only key factors for the team to win the IPL. The pacers also played a key role in guiding the team to victory and their role, especially in the death overs, cannot be underestimated. Containing the batsmen at the end of the innings is something that KKR have struggled with their pacers in the past and we will have to wait and see how they fare in IPL 2024.

They bought Mitchell Starc in a mini-auction for a whopping Rs 2,475 crore but released Umesh Yadav, Lockie Ferguson and Tim Southee. Therefore, the team management will rely heavily on Mitchell Starc’s experience and performance.

Over-reliance on Australian pacers could be a major cause of concern for the Knight Riders. The two-time champions added Chetan Sakariya and Dushmantha Chameera to their fast bowling unit, but neither of them had much in the way Experience of playing on the IPL stage.

Chance

The return of Shreyas Iyer and Gautam Gambhir to the KKR family will be a huge boost. Shrias missed out on captaining the Knight Riders last year due to back surgery. However, he has shown good form since returning from injury last year and will look to thrive under Gambhir’s guidance.

Another positive for KKR is their plethora of finishers like Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer and Andre Russell. These batsmen have shown how destructive they can be when running at full speed by proving in tight matches that they can take their team across the line with powerful hits.

threaten

Andre Russell is one of the most important players in the team and when he sings, the Jamaican all-rounder has proven that he can defeat any opponent. But he’s been a bit inconsistent lately, with injuries, a lack of consistency and rising expectations seeming to weigh heavily on his broad shoulders.

Sunil Narine might also be able to do a little better with his batting after failing to make a significant contribution of late. Needless to say, the two former West Indies internationals will need to perform well if KKR are to succeed in IPL 2024, given the impact the Caribbean pair can have when they are at their best.

Maybe 12

Rahmanullah Gubaz (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Mitchell Starc, Chetan Sakariya, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, Manish Pandey (Impact substitute)