Kolkata Knight Riders, the team of best entertainer of India, has succeeded in being the most entertaining team of IPL in the last three editions, but continuous failure in tasting success has created lot of confusions and controversies around the team. The revamped team of 2011 looks the best team of the edition and may bring good fortune with a new campaign.
Kolkata Knight Riders: The Most Unsuccessful Team Seeks Glory
IPL 2011 Preview: Chennai Super Kings Vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Chennai Super Kings: The Most Successful IPL Team
KKR has been the most unsuccessful team among all the teams who played the first three edition. They have the dubious distinction of being the only team to have never reached the knockout stage of Indian Premier League in last three attempts.
Unfortunately they are the teams who have been more famous for the non-cricket reasons, such as factions within the team, ill-treeatment of Ganguly, the Fake IPL player and their owner Shahrukh Khan.
It would not be wrong to conclude that they have enjoyed the stardom that their owner, Shahrukh Khan, enjoys in the lasst three editions, as they have always been the most talked about team, unfortunately for reasons other than Cricket.
In an attempt to get the real stardom in the field of Cricket and let the Knights have successful ride on-field, Kolkata Knight Riders team management have revamped entire team.
The new-look team has the most expensive horse of the IPL Auction, Gautam Gambhir as captain. His team has some of the best players of IPL, such as Kallis and Yusuf Pathan. In Morgan and Shakib they have the players who can win matches by their own performance, if its their day. Brad Haddin, Brett Lee and Ryan ten Doeschate are already in form, as they showed in World Cup. Gambhir as captain can lead from the front with bat. Overall, the team looks the most aggressive on paper, unlike the last team that lacked teeth even on paper. Kolkata Knight Riders followers will be sceptical, yet most hopeful this time about the chances of their team, although they will miss Dada, for sure.
IPL 2011: Match Schedule for Kolkata Knight Riders
KKR has a new captain. Gambhir is not new to the job. He has already captained India and Delhi Daredevils. He is considered as potential future captain of India. He has a happy problem of pleny in selecting his final XI. While his position as opener is fixed, the contest for partner can be between Haddin, the man in form, and Kallis, the allrounder with perfect record in IPL. Ryan ten Doeschate can claim the spot at number 3 or 4, depending upon position of Haddin and Kallis. Shakib and Yusuf Pathan can then come in middle order to rock the opposition with quick scores and later with their smart spins too. Brett Lee will head the bowling with support from Balaji and others.
2008 – 6 Win 7 Losses, 1 No Result
Lost both group matches to Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals, won both group matches against Deccan Chargers, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and shared one match each with Kings XI, won one match against Daredevils, other match was abandoned.
2009 – Won 3, Lost 10, 1 No Result
Lost both to Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore. Their winning moments came against Chennai Super Kings, Kings XI Punjab, and Rajasthan Royals when they won one match against the three teams. They also played a tie with Rajasthan Royals, but lost to the mentally strong Warne’s team in the Super Over.
2010 – 7 Wins 7 Losses
They almost looked like entering the semifinal, yet could not. They lost both group matches to Chennai Super Kings, won both against Deccan Chargers, and had even contest with Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals winning and losing one match each.
Overall – 16 Wins, 24 Losses, 2 No Result
They have the worst loss win record, not surprising considering they never reached the knock out stage. 2009 edition was their worst where they lost 10 out of 14 matches.
Summary
Gambhir, the aggressive-yet-cool Indian opener, holds the key to KKR’s fortune. He will be leading a talented team, and luckily has the problem of plenty, unlike Dada’s era where KKR did not have 11 talented team players. Ryan ten Doeschate and Brad Haddin will be the key players for KKR in the tournament. Yusuf, Kallis and Shakib can form the best trio of allrounders – supported by Ryan. Brett Lee and Gambhir have already shown good form in World Cup 2011. Overall semifinal place finally looks achievable – and with some good captaincy the cup can belong to Kolkata. Korbo – Morbo was there in last 3 editions. Finally its time for Jitbo!!
Squad
Batsman: Gautam Gambhir (Captain), Brad Haddin (WK), Eoin Morgan, Manvinder Bisla, Shreevats Goswami, Laxmi Shukla, Manoj Tiwary,
Allrounder: Jacques Kallis, Ryan ten Doeschate, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan,
Bowlers: Brett Lee, James Pattinson, Pradeep Sangwan, Jaidev Unadkat, Shami Ahmed, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Rajat Bhatia, Sarabjit Ladda, Iqbal Abdulla,
Auction List for KKR
-
Gautam Gambhir Kolkata Knight Riders $2,400,000
Yusuf Pathan Kolkata Knight Riders $2,100,000
Jacques Kallis Kolkata Knight Riders $1,100,000
Manoj Tiwary Kolkata Knight Riders $475,000
Shakib Al Hasan Kolkata Knight Riders $425,000
Brett Lee Kolkata Knight Riders $400,000
Eoin Morgan Kolkata Knight Riders $350,000
Brad Haddin Kolkata Knight Riders $325,000
Lakshmipathy Balaji Kolkata Knight Riders $500,000
Jaydev Unadkat Kolkata Knight Riders $250,000
Ryan ten Doeschate Kolkata Knight Riders $150,000
James Pattinson Kolkata Knight Riders $100,000
Retained
None
Leave a Reply