Shreyas Iyer's fitness a concern for spin-heavy KKR
The Mitchell Starc-led pace attack is otherwise short on experience but there's a strong Indian middle order in place
Sreshth Shah
18-Mar-2024
Kolkata Knight Riders' players get ready for IPL 2024 • Cricket Association of Bengal
Where Kolkata Knight Riders finished last season
With six wins and eight losses, KKR finished seventh. They were four points away from being in the fray for the playoffs.
Knight Riders squad for IPL 2024
Shreyas Iyer (capt), Andre Russell*, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk)*, Sherfane Rutherford*, Phil Salt (wk)*, KS Bharat (wk), Manish Pandey, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Ramandeep Singh, Sunil Narine*, Suyash Sharma, Mujeeb Ur Rahman*, Dushmantha Chameera*, Sakib Hussain, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy, Mitchell Starc*, Chetan Sakariya
*Overseas players
Player availability - Shreyas Iyer's fitness a concern
Jason Roy (personal reasons) and his compatriot Gus Atkinson (workload management) have both pulled out. They have been replaced by Phil Salt, currently the world's No. 2 T20I batter, and Dushmantha Chameera, respectively. However, Chameera recently suffered a quadriceps injury and is racing to get fit.
There are also some concerns over Shreyas Iyer's fitness. He did not field on the last two days of the Ranji Trophy final because of back spasms.
What's new with KKR this year?
Between seasons, KKR announced Gautam Gambhir's return to the franchise, this time as team mentor. He captained KKR to their only two IPL titles, in 2012 and 2014. He will work closely with head coach Chandrakant Pandit.
At the auction table, there was another reunion as former KKR batter Manish Pandey returned to the franchise for INR 50 lakh. Other notable additions were Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sherfane Rutherford, Chetan Sakariya and Ramandeep Singh. But the most eye-catching pick was Mitchell Starc - for an all-time auction high of INR 24.75 crore - who will significantly bolster a relatively inexperienced fast-bowling group.
The good - Indian core and spin attack
Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh make up a strong Indian core in batting, even if they lack the cumulative experience compared to some other teams. Hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batters Salt and Rahmanullah Gurbaz together at the top is an explosive prospect, and both are also in red-hot form.
Rinku and Andre Russell also pose an intimidating challenge for bowlers in the death overs. Rinku struck at 148.71 and 149.52 in IPL 2022 and 2023, respectively, and enters this season with the fresh experience of being a capped Indian player.
The spin trio of Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Suyash Sharma will aim to add to their solid 2023 as a group, and with Mujeeb's addition, that department is even stronger. With Gambhir's preference for spin at home, the pitches could also turn more than usual, which also works well for their Indian batters, especially Shreyas and Nitish.
The not-so-good - over-reliance on Starc
KKR's Indian fast-bowling group of Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana and Sakariya is exciting but inexperienced compared to other teams. That could have been one major reason why KKR have invested so heavily in Starc.
They will also need to carefully manage the workloads of Russell and Starc, for whom the franchise have no like-for-like replacements. Both matchwinners have been a bit fragile over the years when it comes to injuries.
Schedule insights
They play only three games in the first leg of the season with long breaks between games. At the start, they play at home against Sunrisers Hyderabad on March 23 before flying to Bengaluru to face Royal Challengers Bangalore (March 29) and Visakhapatnam to take on Delhi Capitals (April 3).
The big question
Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @sreshthx