Kolkata Knight Riders IPL Team

They might be the defending champions after romping to a win in the IPL 2024, but it’s a season of starting nearly from scratch for Kolkata Knight Riders. There is a lot that has changed in the year since KKR lifted the trophy, not least the captain that led them to it: after only three years at the Eden Gardens, Shreyas Iyer moved on, opting to try his luck in the auction. If KKR want their fourth IPL title, it will be under a new Indian batter leading them: Ajinkya Rahane, whose stocks as a batter in this format have only risen as he has found a groove, and who brings plenty of experience and leadership. Can his stable hand ensure KKR don’t deviate too far from their incredible dominance of 2024?

There are still plenty of powerful pieces from that team in place, though, with the likes of Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh still remaining at the Eden Gardens. Aside from them, the two most iconic KKR players in franchise history continue to show up, as they look for a swan song: Sunil Narine and Andre Russell continue to provide that Caribbean flair and power to this KKR team, and when you give this duo the right pieces, they can show off why they are considered legends of this format.

But KKR’s biggest boost is the retention of Varun Chakravarthy and Harshit Rana, two domestic talents who are in the argument of being the best domestic bowlers in their respective fields, and two who are on the back of not only the IPL but also the Champions Trophy with some impressive performances. The Chakravarthy-Narine tandem is one no team will want to face, and while Harshit will miss his senior partner Mitchell Starc, he does form one part of a super-fast pace contingent with the likes of Anrich Nortje, Vaibhav Arora, and Umran Malik.

That pace bowling is the concern for KKR, however, with Umran and Nortje’s injury concerns as well as their lack of dependability in this format. There is also some question over the batting, with the losses of Shreyas Iyer and Phil Salt not easy to replace: Ajinkya Rahane and Quinton de Kock are solid stand-ins, but are much older, and arguably downgrades as well.

KKR’s deep batting and multitude of bowling options made them a threat last time out, as they won 9 matches in the league, lost only 3, before thoroughly dominating SRH in the playoffs on two occasions to emerge with their third trophy. But going through this kind of restructuring isn’t an easy ask: while Rahane could help KKR find their feet right from the off and be flying from ball one, it’s just as possible that they take their time to find their legs.

Whatever the case, there is plenty in this KKR team that will give them reason for optimism in IPL 2025, and as difficult as going back-to-back in this tournament is, they are well placed to do so.