By Atreyo Mukhopadhyay
Overview: This is a team facing problems. Even at full strength, they did not appear to be the best of the lot on paper. After that, injuries have set them back. Already out for at least half the campaign is Shreyas Iyer, captain and middle-order mainstay. Lockie Ferguson, the New Zealand fast bowler who was consistently among the quickest last season, is unlikely for the first few games due to a hamstring problem. These are blows because both are indispensable in the team’s scheme of things.
This means new captain Nitish Rana will have lots on his hands. He has no experience of leading an IPL side and the diehard KKR fans will hope that the situation brings the best out of him. Rana has what it takes to shine as a batter and part-time spinner in this format. How or if captaincy affects his game remains to be seen. A left-handed batter called Gautam Gambhir had played a big role as captain in the transformation of KKR after the disastrous underperformance in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Coach Chandrakant Pandit has a remarkable record in domestic cricket. Most of that is in other formats. IPL will be a new test for him.
Strengths
Andre Russell and Sunil Narine are proven performers. Their presence is a headache for other teams. Shakib Al Hasan’s recent form is encouraging, although he will miss the first few games because of Bangladesh’s engagements. With Varun Chakravarthy around, the spin department is strong. Uncapped spinner Suyash Sharma is one to watch out for. Add Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee to the mix, and this is potentially a formidable bowling unit in terms of pace and spin. Taking wickets is priceless in every format and KKR have the resources. The presence of B Arun as bowling coach should be valuable as well.
Weaknesses
The batting unit lacks firepower. This is something which has bugged KKR. Barring Russell, hardly anybody played match-winning knocks last season. Even this time, they do not have that specialist batter who can be relied upon to take the game to the opposition. There are bits-and-pieces guys. But a team needs batters who play big knocks, around which the bits-and-pieces players perform and make the total effort substantial. This is where Rana has to stand out.
Strategy watch
It will be about the bowlers. There is enough talent in terms of both pace and spin. There is ability, experience and track record. They can take wickets, choke the opposition. They would like to attack the batting line-up. Kulwant Khejroliya can be handy because of his pace and awkward action. Ideally, this team would prefer restricting the opposition to manageable totals because their batting lacks the X, Y and Z-factors. How Pandit and Rana select the XI and XII will be important. In all probability, they will depend more on bowlers than batters because they can’t afford to do otherwise.
Impact player watch
Harsh truth be told, KKR do not have a certainty as far as this is concerned. Go through their squad again and again and it will still be difficult to figure out who the impact player can be. It’s likely that the team will act according to the need of the hour rather than homing in on an individual. Trust Pandit to come up with surprises.
Last year’s ranking
They finished 7th out of 10, with 6 wins from 14 games.
Best finish
They won the title in 2012 and 2014.
Likely XI
Venkatesh Iyer, N Jagadeesan, Nitish Rana (C), Mandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy.