Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will begin their IPL 2025 campaign with a match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday, March 22. This will also be the opening match of the upcoming edition. KKR won the IPL title last year by hammering Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight wickets in the final in Chennai.
Ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, Kolkata Knight Riders retained six players - Rinku Singh (₹13 crore), Varun Chakaravarthy (₹12 crore), Sunil Narine (₹12 crore), Andre Russell (₹12 crore), Harshit Rana (₹4 crore), and Ramandeep Singh (₹4 crore). At the auction, they purchased Venkatesh Iyer for a whopping ₹23.75 crore, Anrich Nortje for ₹6.5 crore and Quinton De Kock for ₹3.60 crore.
As KKR players gear up for IPL 2025 season, we pick an all-time XI of the franchise that has won the T20 league on three occasions.
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Top-order: Gautam Gambhir (c), Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa
Gautam Gambhir would be the straightforward choice as captain of Kolkata Knight Riders' all-time XI. He led the franchise to victory in 2012 and 2014 and was the mentor when they won the competition last season. As a batter, Gambhir remains the franchise's highest run-getter. In 122 matches, he scored 3,345 runs at an average of 31.26 and a strike rate of 124.72, with 30 half-centuries.
Either of Narine or Robin Uthappa could open the batting. Narine has batted at the top as well as in the middle and lower-order during different phases of his career. In 111 innings, he has contributed 1,535 runs at a strike rate of 165.40. The West Indies cricketer is also KKR's leading wicket-taker. In 186 games, he has 198 scalps to his name at an average of 23.93 and an excellent economy rate of 6.65.
Uthappa is the second-highest run-getter for Kolkata Knight Riders after Gambhir. He represented the franchise from 2014 to 2019, scoring 2,649 runs in 91 matches at an average of 31.53 and a strike rate of 135.84. When KKR won the IPL in 2014, Uthappa contributed 660 runs in 16 matches at an average of 44 and a strike rate of 137.78.
Middle-order: Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Jacques Kallis, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (wk)
As mentioned earlier, Venkatesh Iyer was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for ₹23.75 crore at the IPL 2025 mega auction. The 30-year-old has swiftly become a key member of the franchise. In 51 matches, he has scored 1,326 runs at an average of 31.57 and a strike rate of 137.12, with one hundred and 11 fifties. The Madhya Pradesh cricketer can also chip in with the ball if needed.
Nitish Rana was part of the Kolkata franchise from 2018-2024. The former skipper played 90 matches and scored 2,199 runs at an average of 28.19 and a strike rate of 136.32, with 14 half-centuries, which included a best of 87.
Jacques Kallis and Andre Russell would be the all-rounders in the all-time KKR XI, while Dinesh Karthik would be the keeper-batter. Apart from being finishers, Russell and Karthik could also be used as floaters to up the ante. Kallis scored 1,603 runs in 70 matches and claimed 48 wickets. In the 2014 final against CSK, he claimed the wicket of Michael Hussey and scored 69 off 49.
Big-hitting Russell has clobbered 2,491 runs in 196 matches at a strike rate of 175.91. With his pace bowling, he has picked up 116 wickets at an average of 21.74, with two four-fers and one five-fer. Russell is the second-leading wicket-taker for KKR after Narine. As for Karthik, he played 61 matches for the franchise, scoring 1,143 runs at an impressive strike rate of 140.41.
Bowlers: Piyush Chawla, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Varun Chakaravarthy
Varun Chakaravarthy and Piyush Chawla would be Narine's spin-bowling partners in the all-time KKR XI. Chakravarthy has played 70 matches for Kolkata Knight Riders and has picked up 82 wickets at an average of 23.98 and an economy rate of 7.51. He is third on the list of KKR's leading wicket-takers.
Veteran leggie Chawla represented the Kolkata franchise in 76 matches and picked up 71 wickets at an average of 28.49. He also played some handy cameos in the lower-order. Former India pacer Lakshmipathy Balaji was one of KKR's early bowling stars in the IPL. In 42 matches, he claimed 44 scalps at an average of 25.90 and an economy rate of 7.62, with two four-fers.
(Note: Stats include CLT20 matches)
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