The Riders have lost five out of the eight games they have played so far
The Indian Premier League (IPL) has crossed the halfway mark, and the table is taking shape, with some teams already racing towards the qualifiers. However, there are also a few teams that are languishing in the bottom half of the table, and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the defending champions, are one of them.
Despite the poor performances and having lost five out of the eight matches played so far, we believe one should not worry about KKR’s present situation. In our book of thoughts, KKR is doing what it does best.
When the IPL started in 2008, KKR also had several star players on the team. We know how that worked out in the first three seasons. After 2011, the management took a different strategy.
KKR started putting money and faith in new and unknown faces. For example, in 2012, KKR lifted its first IPL trophy, but in the table of top wicket-takers and run scorers, only Sunil Narine and Gautam Gambhir, respectively, were in the top 10 – the rest of the players were nowhere to be found.
The team relied on players like Manoj Tiwary, Manvinder Bisla, Rajat Bhatia, Ryan ten Doeschate, and so on. In short, the team did not have stars, but in every match, one player or another turned out to be the match-winner, whereas the rest of the team also contributed.
Over the next two years, Kolkata Knights Riders kept the combinations right and won another title in 2014. However, after 2014, the team took 10 years to win its third trophy in 2024.
Between 2014 and 2024, the team performed consistently on various occasions, reaching the qualifiers on four occasions, losing one final and then finally winning last year’s title.
We look at KKR, and it reminds us of La Liga’s Atletico de Madrid, the team that doesn’t bring on too many stars but has groomed several youngsters over the years. Madrid in red, white, and blue never dominates Spain or European football but manages to find success here and there at intervals, disrupting the flow of Real Madrid and Barcelona—in the IPL context, KKR disrupts the flow of Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.
KKR has been bashed severely for several blunders during the auction last year. People have criticised the management for letting Shreyas Iyer and Phil Salt go. The amount of money spent on Venkatesh Iyer has also been questioned.
However, that is KKR for you – who would’ve thought Eoin Morgan replacing Dinesh Karthik would’ve led the team to the 2021 final? Or a title from Shreyas Iyer?
KKR’s operation at the auction table looks like a blunder now, but they may still get a combination right.
This season, KKR are continuously working on various combinations. Unfortunately, most have not clicked in the team’s favour yet, but this is exactly what KKR needs. The Gautam Gambhir era is gone, and therefore, KKR needs to find which combination will work well for them in the coming seasons. In fact, we do not see the team lifting a title in the next 2-3 seasons because, first, the team will work on getting the combination and captaincy right.
When KKR isn’t winning, it is a different story. But when the team does, it wins in style with dominance over the best of teams. Every player suddenly does their job, and everything falls into place at the right time. KKR has never been a team that can win every season, but it is a team that keeps coming back to create history.
