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The journey of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) can be dissected into three phases – 2008 to 2010, 2011 to 2017 and 2018 to present. The Kolkata franchise had the strongest side on paper during the formative years of the IPL with the likes of Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, Ricky Ponting, Shoaib Akhtar, David Hussey, Ishant Sharma in their ranks. Yet, they couldn’t finish above sixth on the table.
A major reshuffle happened in 2011 with Gautam Gambhir taking over the reins and delivering two IPL titles in three years – defeating the Chennai Super Kings in the 2012 final and Kings XI Punjab in 2014.
Another rearrangement took place in 2018 with the influx of lots of youngsters like Shubman Gill, Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Rinku Singh, Prasidh Krishna, and with Dinesh Karthik made the captain. The team qualified for the playoffs in that very season but failed to make the cut last year.
We are into another year and we take a look at 5 KKR players to watch out for in the 13th edition of the IPL.
5 KKR players to watch out for in IPL 2020 (in descending order of batting positions):
1. Sunil Narine
After catching every cricket fan’s eye playing for Trinidad and Tobago at the 2011 Champions League, Sunil Narine came into IPL 2012 as the league’s first-ever ‘mystery spinner’.
Narine is the perfect embodiment of someone who lets the ball do the talking. This is because not only does he hardly talk, but hardly has anyone even seen him express his emotions.
He took the world’s most expensive league by storm in his very first season, taking 24 wickets in 15 matches, just one wicket less than Purple Cap winner Morne Morkel.
And, suddenly kids could be seen copying Narine’s bowling action, some even copying his spiked hairstyle. Narine took 67 wickets in 47 matches between 2012 to 2014. Undoubtedly, he was highly instrumental in KKR winning two titles in three years.
Just when the batsmen started managing to read him, just when he wasn’t able to reach the 20-wicket hauls in a season, he sprung another mystery. Sacrificing his opening slot, Gautam Gambhir decided to experiment with opening the batting with Narine in a match in the 2017 season.
And, he never looked back. Of Narine’s 771 IPL career runs, 724 have come opening the batting for the Knight Riders in the previous three seasons.
And, those runs have come at a decent pace for Narine has the second-highest strike rate – 168.34 – in IPL history. Among his many cameos at the top of the order, the one that is a part of folklore now is the carnage he and Chris Lynn wreaked on RCB in 2017.
The duo scripted history by putting up 105 runs in the first six overs, including a 15-ball half century by Sunil Narine, who was the ‘Most Valuable Player’ in 2012 and 2018.
A player like Narine is an asset to any team because he can open both bowling and batting. While he picked a bulk of his wickets bowling the death overs during his first few IPL seasons, of late Dinesh Karthik has been using him in the middle overs to stem the flow of runs.
With the bat, he can help both maximise scoring in the powerplay overs, while also provide impetus at the back end of the innings.
No doubt Narine will be licking his lips at the prospect of bowling on the slow and dry surfaces in the UAE. On the other hand, he fancies the slow bowlers, and he will enjoy the ball coming onto the bat slowly in the IPL this season. He will definitely be the first name on the team sheet.
2. Shubman Gill
A prodigy that is coming through the Indian domestic system and slowly being hailed as a ‘future India player’ by many pundits, Shubman Gill first came to people’s notice when he won the player of the tournament at the U-19 World Cup in 2018. He amassed 372 runs in 6 matches and helped India win their record fourth title.
He was immediately drafted into the KKR side for IPL 2018, and he didn’t disappoint. Batting lower down the order, Gill scored 203 runs in 13 matches at a strike rate of 146.04.
But, it was in December that year that Gill opened the batting for Punjab and scored 268 in a Ranji Trophy encounter against a strong Tamil Nadu side. And, that led the KKR management to make Gill bat at number three and even open the innings sometimes with Chris Lynn in the second half of the tournament last year. Gill finished IPL 2019 scoring 296 runs in 14 matches at an average of 32.88.
Gill received his first India cap in New Zealand this year for his consistent performances in the IPL and the domestic circuit. However, batting at number three, he couldn’t replicate his domestic success, failing to reach double digits in both the ODIs.
With regular India opener Shikhar Dhawan battling injury concerns of late and Prithvi Shaw coming back from suspension, Shubman Gill would look to make the most out of this year’s IPL.
Chris Lynn is no longer a part of the Kolkata side. Opening the innings with Narine, Gill can play with more authority and maturity and play an anchor role, with Narine going full throttle at the other end.
3. Andre Russell
Winner of the ‘Most Valuable Player’ award in 2015 and 2019, Andre Russell has become one of the legends of T20 cricket. He has set the standards so high that bowlers feel relieved if Russell is not able to whack them at least 30 rows back. And, quite naturally, he has the highest strike rate – 186.41 – in IPL history.
Not many people know that the Jamaican all-rounder had first come to the IPL in 2012 as part of the Delhi Daredevils. Down on one knee, he had smacked a good length delivery from Zaheer Khan, over his head and into the third tier of the Feroz Shah Kotla.
You just knew then Russell was a force to reckon with. He was even part of KKR’s title-winning squad in 2014, but it was not until 2015 that people got to know about ‘Dre Russ’.
And, Russell's IPL journey has taken off ever since. Regardless of the number of wickets that have fallen, the opposition doesn’t consider the match to be over until and unless Andre Russell is back in the hut.
In a match against CSK in 2018, KKR were reduced to 89 for 5 in the 10th over. But the scoreboard at the end of the innings displayed 202 for 6, courtesy Russell’s unbeaten 88 off 36 balls which included 11 sixes. But, one of the most famous run chases came in last year's IPL. Needing 53 off the final 4 overs against RCB, Russell smashed a 13-ball 48 to get KKR home with 5 balls remaining.
He is not only the team’s main force with the bat but can also chip in with a few wickets with the ball in hand. He can bowl at 140 kmph with the new ball and can also roll his fingers over towards the end.
Russell’s hitting prowess even made Karthik and coach Kallis promote him up the order in the last IPL. He was highly instrumental in KKR winning 4 out of the first 5 matches last season before a shoulder injury hampered his performance.
He still finished as the fifth-highest run-getter (the top 4 were all openers) with his best-ever single-season tally of 510 runs at an average of 56.66 and also scalped 11 wickets. For the record, he also hit the most number of sixes – 52 – in the tournament and had a strike rate of 204.81.
While every side would be looking to use their spinners to exploit the slow and low surfaces in the UAE this season, it might actually turn out to be in Russell’s favour. Down on one knee, he will be sending the ball over deep mid-wicket and into the desert.
4. Pat Cummins
The number one Test bowler in the world, Pat Cummins is a versatile cricketer, having proved himself in the shortest format of the game, as well. No wonder KKR shelled out ₹15.5 crore for the Aussie pacer in the auctions last December.
Like Russell, Cummins was also part of KKR’s title-winning squad of 2014. But, he had played just one game that season. Technically, he has played just one IPL season – for the Delhi Daredevils in 2017.
He picked 15 wickets in 12 matches at a strike rate of 18.46 that year. He was ruled out of IPL 2018 with a back injury and decided to miss last year’s edition to focus on the World Cup in June. He picked 14 wickets in the tournament and is currently one of the top bowlers in the world. In addition to his 36 T20I wickets, Cummins boasts an enviable economy and strike rate – 6.87 and 17.3.
It will definitely be a sweet homecoming for Cummins because he will not only spearhead an otherwise inexperienced bowling attack, but can also bridge the gap between a powerful top order and a fragile tail. A vast majority of the matches KKR lost last season was because the bowlers leaked too many runs.
Karthik can give Cummins the new ball, bowl him in the middle overs or even ask him to execute some toe-crushers and off-cutters towards the end of the innings. Cummins will be a vital cog in KKR’s wheel this IPL season, and can actually be the difference between the team winning the title and just qualifying for the playoffs.
5. Kuldeep Yadav
The only blemish on Kuldeep Yadav’s short, promising career is IPL 2019. It saw the chinaman bowler being dropped not only from KKR’s playing eleven, but also from the national side. He picked just 4 wickets in the 9 matches he played in the last IPL, with the average and strike rate being as high as 71.50 and 49.50 respectively.
But, ever since he picked a hat-trick against Scotland at the U-19 World Cup in 2014, Kuldeep has taken giant strides in international cricket. He picked 6 wickets in 3 matches at a strike rate of 12 in his very first IPL season in 2016.
Kuldeep made his Test debut in March next year and became a regular member of the Indian setup. He picked 12 wickets in as many matches in IPL 2017 and had his best season the following year when he picked 17 wickets at a strike rate of 18.11.
Kuldeep’s forte lies in checking the flow of runs in the middle overs with a mix of his chinaman and googlies, but we have also seen him operate in the powerplay overs.
Never afraid to toss the ball up, an in-form Kuldeep can run through any opposition like other top leggies. Kuldeep boasts 119 wickets in 94 T20 matches at a strike rate of 16.8.
Apart from all the experience of professional cricket, Kuldeep has gained a lot from bowling with constant guidance from MS Dhoni behind the stumps. After a poor IPL last year and being in and out of the Indian side, Kuldeep has all the more reason to make the upcoming season count with 3 ICC events lined up in the next three years.
It was in the United Arab Emirates that the 2014 U-19 World Cup was played and Kuldeep would be looking to start afresh in IPL 2020 in the same country.
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