IPL 2022: Can KKR recreate the magic of 2012?

Kolkata Knight Riders | The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are yet to reveal their team jersey for the upcoming season. However, the team has begun practicing on the ground donning team outfit. KKR announced Shreyas Iyer as the team captain on February 16. Iyer had captained Delhi Capitals to their only IPL final back in 2022. (Image: Kolkata Knight Riders)

Kolkata Knight Riders, has been in constant limelight since the opening match of the IPL, where Brendon McCullum scored a thunderous 158*(73). However, the true eminence of Kolkata began when Gautam Gambhir led the franchise to its maiden IPL title in 2012. Since then, Kolkata has been a part of three IPL finals and got their hands on two trophies. Their recent loss occurred during the IPL 2021 finals, where they were baffled by the Chennai Super Kings.

The two-time IPL champion named Andre Russell (16 cr), Venkatesh Iyer (8 cr), Varun Chakravarthy (8 cr), and Sunil Narine (6 cr) as their four retentions before the mega-auction. Out of this, we can fathom that Kolkata will be looking for a possible captaincy candidate and a squad that can complement the four retained players. Kolkata started their auction rigorously until the name Shreyas Iyer came on paper. They were tenacious to buy Shreyas and eventually purchased him at 12.25 crores.

Shreyas parted ways with Delhi Capitals in 2021 as he preferred a captaincy role in the tournament. Shreyas was an assured choice of captain since the time he entered Kolkata’s team sheet. The 27-year old previously led Delhi to its maiden IPL final in 2020 and has secured over 2000 runs in the IPL, including 16 half-centuries. He was also the second-highest run-scorer for Delhi in 2020 with 519 runs. Kolkata will be expecting Shreyas to replicate a similar performance for them.

Kolkata also brought back Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Pat Cummins, and Shivam Mavi, After a tussle with Mumbai, Kolkata managed to purchase Nitish for 8 crores. The 28-year old batter has been playing a pivotal role in Kolkata’s success over the years. That is also the case with Mavi and Cummins. Mavi has grabbed 25 wickets in his IPL career of three years.

Similarly, the Australian pacer Cummins will be a useful asset in both departments. Moreover, they accquired experienced openers in the likes of Ajinkya Rahane and Aaron Finch. Hailing from Mumbai, Rahane is one of the leading run-scorers of the IPL with over 3000 runs in his bag. The 33-year old will most likely anchor the innings for the franchise alongside Venkatesh Iyer. The Australian white-ball skipper Aaron Finch, who has previously played for eight IPL teams, will also be donning the purple and gold this year. Although Finch had a lackluster performance over the years in IPL, he can bring a lot to the table with his experience.

The English wicket-keeper batter, Sam Billings, is expected to keep the wickets for Kolkata. Billings has been a part of 19 IPL games and scored three half-centuries with a strike rate of 133. The 30-year old was also in great touch during the recent Big Bash League in Australia.

Experienced Indian wicket-keepers like Sheldon Jackson and Baba Indrajith are also great buys. The 27-year Baba Indrajith recently smashed a hat-trick of centuries in the Ranji Trophy.

Pace bowlers would be of great essence in the wickets of Wankhede and Brabourne. It would be fair to say that Kolkata has failed to build a fitting pace department. The likes of Umesh Yadav, Pat Cummins, Tim Southee, Chamika Karunaratne can win you a few matches, but it will be hard to bank on them for the entire season. Both Southee and Umesh have an ordinary IPL record and Chamika is yet to make his debut. Umesh has picked 119 wickets in 121 matches, while Southee has grabbed only 31 wickets in 43 wickets. This is where Kolkata is also over-dependent on uncapped pacers like Shivam Mavi, Ashok Sharma, and Rasikh Salam.

Sunil Naraine would be leading the spin department for Kolkata. Sunil is one of the most experienced IPL bowlers with over 140 wickets in his bag. However, Kolkata also has a lack of Indian spinsters. With only two Indian spinners, namely, Varun Chakravarthy and Anukul Roy, their approach in the middle overs would be a ploy to look after. Would Nitish Rana bowl a few overs? Or Would Kolkata restrict themselves with only 8 overs of spin bowling?

The Kolkata Knight Riders had a win percentage of 72.7 in 2014 which slowly abated to 52.9 in 2021 due to their inconsistency. With a new captain this season, Kolkata would be looking to turn their fortunes. The IPL is all set to commence from 26th March with the first game being played between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders in the Wankhede Stadium.