IPL 2024: Kolkata Knight Riders players get temp training facility amid DY Patil T20 Cup in Mumbai

Two-time IPL champions KKR finished seventh on the points table in IPL 2023. KKR will begin the IPL 2024 campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on March 23. (Image source: X/@KKR)

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) franchise is leaving no stone unturned to prepare their players before the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League starting March 22.

KKR assistant coach Abhishek Nayar has set up a temporary training facility in Mumbai on the sidelines of the DY Patil T20 Cup, where some players are participating to warm up for the cash-rich league. The main pre-season camp with the full contingent will begin on March 15.

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India internationals Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Chetan Sakariya and Varun Chakravarthy will be attending the sessions by Nayar, along with domestic cricketers Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Sakib Hussain and Ramandeep Singh.

Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy was KKR's best bowler last season. He picked up 20 wickets. The crafty spinner, who continued the stellar outing with Tamil Nadu at the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2023-24 with 19 wickets at an economy of 4.27, returned 3/31 for DY Patil Red against Income Tax in the last fixture. In the same team as Chakravarthy, left-handed batter Nitish Rana smashed 37 off 18 balls, including four sixes.

KKR's highest run-getter of last season and India's new finisher, Rinku Singh, will be looking to sharpen his skills after a series of quiet outings in first-class cricket.

The southpaw finished IPL 2023 with 474 runs at 149.52 strike-rate, and even shone in the T20I series against Afghanistan. He scored an unbeaten 69 in the nail-biting third match in January but could not replicate his form in the Ranji Trophy. Even against the England Lions, he scored two ducks and a 25-ball 38.

Left-arm pacer Chetan Sakariya is a good addition, who can partner Mitchell Starc with the new ball. The youngster from Saurashtra has 20 wickets from 19 IPL games. He was earlier part of the Delhi Capitals and the Rajasthan Royals.

Two-time IPL champions KKR finished seventh on the points table in IPL 2023. And now that they have Gautam Gambhir, the winning captain of 2012 and 2014, back in the dressing room as mentor along with Manish Pandey, one of the key players during his era, one can expect a turnaround.

KKR will begin the IPL 2024 campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on March 23.