The eleventh season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will start from seventh April.
The return of the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals has cricket fans looking forward to a top- class tournament. While every franchise has a much-changed squad, the biggest T20 tournament in the world is set to thrill the fans alike.
Through this series of articles, we will analyse the SWOT of every team in IPL 11. It can help to get an idea about the pieces which will form the jigsaw puzzle of this tournament.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Widely regarded as one of the most organised franchises, Kolkata Knight Riders attracted lots of attention after the IPL auction.
While they had retained Andre Russell and Sunil Narine, KKR went with a hefty purse in the auction. With just 19 however, they could assemble the smallest squad among eight teams in this tournament.
While they may have looked to take ‘players for positions’, the Knight Riders possess certain weaknesses which can hinder the two-time IPL champions. Their fortunes rest on the fitness of their players.
Franchise profile
Captain: Dinesh Karthik
Coach: Jaques Kallis
Squad: Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Chris Lynn, Mitchell Starc, Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Kuldeep Singh Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Nitish Rana, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Mitchell Johnson, Shubman Gill, Ranganath Vinay Kumar, Rinku Singh, Cameron Delport, Javon Searless, Apoorv Vijay Wankhade, Ishank Jaggi
Likely playing XI: Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik (C), Andre Russell, Mitchell Starc, Piyush Chawla, Vinay Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav
Key players: Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Andre Rusell, Kuldeep Yadav
Strengths
1) Bowling attack: Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, Piyush Chawla and Mitchell Johnson. The Knight Riders have likely assembled the best bowling attack of this IPL.
Adding experienced Vinay Kumar, talented Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi makes for impressive reading. They possess bowlers to dominate any batting side in the tournament. It will be tough for any opposition batsmen to get big scores against the Knight Riders.
Rarely we see a T20 team with five specialist bowlers but the Knight Riders have made it possible. If they line up as above, they will have Starc, Narine, Chawla, Kumar and Yadav alongside Andre Russell who is more than a handy bowler.
2) Spinners: In Yasir Shah and Sunil Narine, Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) Lahore Qalandars had one of the best spinning duos among domestic T20 sides.
Kolkata Knight Riders seem to have bettered the Lahore franchise with acquisition of Kuldeep Yadav and Piyush Chawla to partner Narine.
Eden Gardens’ batting friendly track has always supported the spinners. Hence these three will hope to get maximum returns off their quotas. Such is their efficiency that if they bowl according to their career T20 performances, their 12 overs will yield mere 82 runs at around four combined wickets!
3) A settled playing XI: Too many cooks spoil the soup. While a thin squad, KKR have managed to acquire a settled XI.
With possibility of building strong team chemistry, Knight Riders can be one of the scarier sides of this tournament.
They have one of the best T20 batsmen in Chris Lynn, talented Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana alongside the class of Uthappa and finishers in Karthik and Russell.
The potential of their bowlers to wreak a havoc has been discussed. With a fit and well- settled playing XI, Kolkata Knight Riders may be a dauting prospect of any side in this IPL.
Weaknesses
1) Lack of leadership: What seems as the most striking aspect, they remain one of the only two teams without a recognised IPL captain. Gautam Gambhir led them brilliantly over the seasons to win two IPL titles.
However, the decision of letting him go and subsequent failure to sign his competent replacement may prove costly to the Knight Riders. Skipper Dinesh Karthik has led Tamil Nadu in Indian domestic cricket.
However, he lacks the charisma of MS Dhoni or Gautam Gambhir. Captaining a young side, Dinesh Karthik will have to lead from the front- like Gambhir, if KKR should be impactful in this IPL.
2) Inexperienced middle order: While their bowling attack is touted as the best in the league, Kolkata Knight Riders seem to have missed the mark in their acquisition of batsmen.
Shubman Gill, Robin Utthappa, Dinesh Kathik, Nitish Rana and Andre Russell read not a very strong middle order. Karthik and Utthappa may need to be on the top of their games if Knight Riders want maximum returns from their middle order.
3) Imbalanced squad: If KKR line up as mentioned above, they seem heavy at the top, brittle in the middle and very heavy at the bottom. While bowling seems to be their strength, their batting can cause headaches.
Additionally, Andre Russell and possibly Sunil Narine may be the only all rounders in their playing XI. This makes an imbalanced team, which can struggle if they are asked to chase big.
4) No bench strength: It’s one thing to assemble a small squad covering all bases and another to have a squad without many back-ups.
Beyond their playing XI, there hardly seems a competent replacement (except Nagarkoti, Ishank Jaggi and Mitchell Johnson) who can replace anybody in their playing XI. IPL is a quite a heavy tournament which can take toll on the players.
KKR does not seem to have this aspect covered. They appear to lack weight-to-weight replacements in their squad if anybody in their playing XI gets injured.
Opportunities
1) Dinesh Karthik: Dinesh Karthik’s cricketing career is reminiscent to a Koala – bouts of passionate displays in middle of long hours of rest.
While a confident Dinesh Karthik has been breathtaking, he has been criticised for never showing consistency.
With a throne on his head, this season of IPL may be where he justifies his talent. M S Dhoni’s likely retirement after 2019 World Cup and India’s search for a limited overs’ finisher, can make Karthik a mainstay in Indian team after a strong IPL.
Karthik is coming off a successful Nidahas trophy where he played one of the best international T20 knocks of all time against Bangladesh in finals. His team and KKRs fans will be hoping that Karthik brings that form over as he leads their side.
2) Robin Uthappa: Robin Uthappa rides a similar boat to Karthik but with subtle differences. He has been a vital cog in KKR’s playing XI and partnered Gambhir brilliantly over years.
With 1806 runs in 58 matches at.32.60, he boasts impressive numbers. For this IPL, he may need to demote himself to bring solidarity to team’s middle order. Apart from impressive T20 statistics, Robin is a handy wicketkeeper as well.
With gaining laurels from a section of fans and pundits alike, a strong IPL may be what Robin Uthappa needs to come back in contention for India’s limited overs tour of England.
3) Exciting young players: Rahul Dravid coached Indian side put everyone in awe as they won Under-19 cricket World Cup. While a few of them will participate in this IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders boast the best among them.
The trio of Gill, Nagarkoti and Mavi will hope to match the world cup performances which made them household names in India. Joining them will be Delhi’s Nitish Rana. This 24-year-old middle order batsman was imperious in India’s domestic season with over 800 runs across all formats. He proved his worth in IPL last season when he scored 333 runs at 128.90 while playing for Mumbai Indians.
Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya have showed that IPL can be a ticket to the national team. Top-notch performances can make their case stronger as the future superstars of Indian team.
Threats
1) Injury concerns: As mentioned above, Kolkata have a set playing XI. However, Chris Lynn is injured and Mitchell Starc is prone to injuries. Along with these, their star all-rounder Andre Russell is just coming off from a one-year doping ban and injured his hamstring in recently concluded Pakistan Super League.
KKR’s fortunes lie on the fitness of their playing XI. If any of their start player gets injured or fails to recover from an injury, Kolkata may have a tough season ahead.
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