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Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders(KKR) Logo

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are a franchise cricket team representing the city of Kolkata in the Indian Premier League. The franchise is owned by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla and her spouse Jay Mehta. The home of the Knight Riders is the iconic Eden Gardens stadium.

The franchise, which has gained immense popularity due to its association with celebrity owners, qualified for the IPL playoffs for the first time in 2011. They became the IPL champions in 2012, by defeating Chennai Super Kings in the final. They repeated the feat in 2014, defeating Kings XI Punjab. The Knight Riders hold the record for the longest winning streak by any Indian team in T20s (14).

The leading run-scorer of the side is Gautam Gambhir, while the leading wicket-taker is Sunil Narine. The official theme of the team is Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo Re (we will perform, fight and win!) and the official colours are purple and gold. The brand value of the Knight Riders was estimated at $104 million in 2018, second highest among IPL franchises. In 2019, their value was estimated at ₹629 crore (US$88 million).

Kolkata Knight Riders
Nickname(s)	KKR
League	Indian Premier League
Personnel
Captain	Dinesh Karthik
Coach	Brendon McCullum
Owner	Red Chillies Entertainment (55%) Mehta Group (45%)
Team information
City	Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Colours	Purple,Gold
Founded	2008
Home ground	Eden Gardens
Capacity	68,000
History
Indian Premier League wins	2 (2012, 2014)
Official website	kkr.in

kolkata Knight Riders

Franchise history

In 2007, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) created the cricket tournament Indian Premier League based on the Twenty20 form of the game. Eight teams participated in the inaugural tournament held in April – June of the same year. The teams representing the eight different cities of India were put up on auction in Mumbai on 20 February. The team representing Kolkata was eventually bought by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's company Red Chillies Entertainment in partnership with actress Juhi Chawla and her husband Jay Mehta for a price of $75.09 million, equal to approximately ₹2.98 billion at that time. Sourav Ganguly, former captain of the Indian national team, a native of West Bengal and the current President of BCCI (Board Cricket Control of India) was named the Icon player for the team. The name of the team is a reference to the popular 1980s American television series Knight Rider.

In June 2015, they bought a stake in the Caribbean Premier League cricket team Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel and later in 2016, renamed it Trinbago Knight Riders.

2008 KKR

Home ground

The home venue of the Knight Riders is the iconic Eden Gardens (with the two ends of the crease called the High Court End and the Club House End). Owned by the Cricket Association of Bengal, it was the largest cricket stadium in India and had a seating capacity of over 90,000. In 2011, the stadium was renovated to meet the standards set by the International Cricket Council for the 2011 Cricket World Cup; reducing its capacity to around 68,000. The renovated stadium includes a new clubhouse and players' facilities, upgrading the exterior wall, cladding the existing roof structure with a new metal skin, and general infrastructure improvements. In 2013, two of the team's home matches were hosted by the JSCA International Cricket Stadium in Ranchi.

Eden Garden Kolkata

The highs

KKR’s two titles in three years remain their zenith. The first win, in 2012, was a landmark because of how poorly the team had fared in the first four seasons. The win in 2014, when they chased the highest-ever IPL final total, against Kings XI Punjab, cemented that year’s squad as legends forever.

The lows

The dream of a fairy tale under Ganguly did not bear fruit, and there was conflict between him and coach John Buchanan, whose multiple-captains strategy drew laughs, especially after the team’s fortunes sank further. The omission of Ganguly ahead of 2011 threatened to ruin Kolkata’s love for KKR, and the ruckus over the Fake IPL player (an anonymous blogger who appeared to have inside information) in the early years made them the butt of jokes as well.

Season by season

2008 - sixth

Sourav Ganguly became captain of the Kolkata based franchise.The name of the team is a reference to the popular 1980s American television series Knight Rider.Brendon McCullum’s 158 not out in the tournament opener made it seem like KKR were the team to beat in the new league. But then, four straight losses put that start to waste and, despite two Player-of-the-Match performances from Ganguly and a demolition of the Delhi Daredevils by Akhtar, the team finished with three losses at the end of the season.

Brendon McCullum

2009 - eighth

Sourav Ganguly was removed from captaincy.Brendon McCullum assumed the role of the captain.KKR had another miserable season finishing last this time.A Super-Over loss in their third game began a string of eight defeats in a row that broke KKR’s back. After 12 games, they had won just one solitary match, and if it wasn’t for their two wins in their last two games, they might have had the worst season of any team in the history of franchise cricket.

2010 - sixth

Ganguly was retained as captain despite two poor seasons, and he scored 493 runs, but the rest of the team did not hit a winning rhythm. They lost a heap of games in the first half of the tournament and could not quite recover, and though they finished tied on 14 points with the teams in third, fourth and fifth places, their poor net run rate cost them a playoff spot. Ganguly was dropped ahead of the next auction.

2011 - fourth

Sourav Ganguly was sacked.This decision was highly criticised by fans.Delhi boy, Gautam Gambhir was brought in the major auction and was handed captainship responsibilities.A new-look KKR set out to change the team’s fortunes, and they qualified for the playoffs for the first time. KKR’s faith in the Indian talent they had bought along with new captain Gambhir was rewarded, with spinner Iqbal Abdulla, fast bowler L Balaji, and middle-order batsmen Pathan and Manoj Tiwary producing match-winning performances. They lost to the Mumbai Indians in the eliminator.

2012 - champions

KKR’s first title came under Gambhir and new coach Trevor Bayliss, who replaced Dav Whatmore. Two losses to begin, then two wins, a loss, six straight victories, two losses, and finally two wins, meant they finished the league stage second. In the final, Manvinder Bisla’s 89 helped KKR chase a tricky 191. It was Narine’s breakthrough season; he was No. 2 on the KKR bowling charts, and he would top them for the next two years. He  starred throughout the season picking up 24 wickets as KKR seemed to have found their mojo.

KKR Champions 2012

2013 - seventh

A forgettable season, sandwiched between two superb years. Narine with the ball and Gambhir with the bat were flawless, but they couldn’t extract contributions from the others. Kallis, although good, was not consistent, and KKR lost ten of their 16 league games, finishing seventh out of nine.

2014 - champions

Having lost five of their first seven games, KKR seemed destined for an early exit, but a streak of nine wins in a row handed them a second title. Gambhir and Uthappa’s partnerships set KKR up for breezy finishes, which Pathan usually provided. Kuldeep Yadav and Kallis put in regular contributions too, and in the final, Pandey’s 94 helped KKR chase 200 against Kings XI Punjab for the title.Robin Uthappa and Sunil Narine starred in the league stages with former scoring 660 runs and the latter picking up 21 wickets.KKR defeated KXIP lifting the IPL trophy for the second time.

KKR 2014 Champions

2015 - fifth

Andre Russell struck three fifties but the season belonged to KKR’s bowlers. Morne Morkel handed KKR a rare win over Mumbai, Umesh Yadav played matchwinner twice, and Piyush Chawla’s four-wicket haul dismantled Delhi Daredevils. KKR had to win one of their last two league games to qualify, but they faltered in both matches, losing to Mumbai and the Royals. It was coach Bayliss’ last season.

2016 - fourth

Russell’s domination continued: he earned three Player-of-the-Match awards, and Pathan two as KKR qualified for the playoffs. There, they were knocked out in the eliminator by the Sunrisers. It was also the first season where Jacques Kallis was coach, a relationship that would last three years.

2017 - third

Lynn’s and Narine’s big-hitting at the top, followed by accumulative performances from Gambhir and Uthappa, put KKR on course for a third IPL title when they won seven of their first nine games, but their performances tapered away as the season progressed. They qualified for the playoffs but were knocked out in the qualifier, after being bowled out for 107. (Russell was not available - he was serving a ban.)

2018 - third

Dinesh Karthik was appointed the captain of the team.KKR reached Qualifier 2 and lost the match out of the tournament.KKR finished 3rd.KKR batted aggressively, using the power of Lynn, Narine and Russell to post big totals to overcome the inexperience of their fast bowling. Despite batting low, Karthik was the team’s highest scorer, with 498 runs. KKR beat the Rajasthan Royals in the eliminator, but fell one step short of the final, losing to runners-up the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

2019 - fifth

They won four of their first five games, and then lost six on the trot. When KKR won, it was often thanks to Russell’s heroics with the bat, which earned him four Player-of-the-Match awards. Shubman Gill’s promotion from finisher to opener worked well, and had they won their final game against the Mumbai Indians, they would have qualified for the playoffs.

Key players

Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir

KKR’s all-time highest scorer, with 3345 runs, Gambhir made 30 fifties in 122 matches, all of which he captained. Gambhir’s aggressive leadership drew praise, and he led KKR to two IPL titles. He started out batting as an opener but slipped into the middle order to accommodate hard-hitting batsmen.

Robin Uthappa

Robin Uthappa

For long, Uthappa was the bedrock in the middle order around whom KKR’s big-hitters played. His 17 half-centuries for the side usually led to victories. In his prime, Uthappa’s was the wicket opposition teams looked to get. In KKR’s IPL-winning 2014 season, he scored 40 or more eight matches in a row, a record he still holds.

Yusuf Pathan

Yusuf Pathan

Pathan was already an IPL winner at the Rajasthan Royals when he came to KKR, and he brought the winning mentality with him, playing crucial roles in the side’s two title wins. His cameos as a finisher helped KKR cross the line on many occasions, and his 30 wickets in 56 innings were often important partnership breakers.

Andre Russell

Andre Russell

The IPL’s biggest overseas superstar, Russell is the Knight Riders’ third-highest wicket-taker, with a strike rate of under 18, but it is his performances with the bat that are truly stunning. His 1400 runs and counting have come at a strike rate of 188.35, and he is the only KKR batsman to have struck 100 sixes.

Sunil Narine

Sunil Narine

KKR’s most successful bowler by far, mystery spinner Narine has bowled in the powerplay, middle overs, and at the death. Though he has conceded a few more runs than before in the last three years after he remodelled his action, his economy for KKR is under 7. As opener, he has scored at a strike rate of over 180.