IPL 2022 Kolkata Knight Riders preview: Over-reliance on core group can be double-edged sword for 'Men in Purple'

Over the years the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have been one Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise which is known for making their presence felt — whether it is on or off the field or in the auctions. However, this flamboyant approach did perhaps cost Venky Mysore (KKR CEO) during this year's mega auction when they spent a whopping amount of money to get Shreyas Iyer on board and to retain their core. Those purchases left Knight Riders without a big chunk of their purse while going for quality backups. Though a late push towards the end did manage to plug some of the holes, but going into this new season their squad looks a bit depleted compared to last year.

Yes, the core of the squad — Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana — is pretty much intact. On top of that they now have one of the future superstars of Indian cricket — Shreyas — as a leader but a closer look at their player pool gives you an impression that this team perhaps lacks a bit of depth in quality.

Hence, this season the two-time former champions and the runners-up of last year will have to be over-reliant on a few key performers and sadly for them most of those impact players are past their prime.

Strengths

The biggest strength for KKR heading into IPL 2022 is of course their skipper and his recent form. First of all, unlike their previous captains like Dinesh Karthik and Eoin Morgan; Shreyas is considered to be a long-term option as a leader of this team. And his previous track record as a proactive captain of the Delhi franchise may have impressed Brendon McCullum, the Knight's head-coach. Perhaps, these are the reasons why KKR management wanted him so badly in the auction and spent Rs 12.25 crore for him.

Shreyas' recent form against West Indies and Sri Lanka gives the Knights a huge sigh of relief. Batting at No. 3 he can hold the innings together. Though in a recent presser, the Mumbai boy spoke about being flexible with his batting position as well as approach.

Another positive factor of this team has to be Venkatesh Iyer. Following a productive season last year, the all-rounder has elevated himself to the international level and made a decent impression there. In KKR, the youngster will play a more proactive role this season, both with bat and ball. Ideally, he should continue to open the innings in IPL as in this team, that is the best available batting position for him.

Meanwhile, the experience of Aaron Finch, who is the late replacement of Alex Hales, and Ajinkya Rahane may come handy for the team and especially for Shreyas. Both can perform some sort of a mentorship role and help the new skipper get the best out of his players.

Weaknesses

Talking about weaknesses, the first aspect which KKR need worry about is their lack of depth in pace bowling attack. Barring Pat Cummins, they don't have much quality in there. On top of that, the Aussie pacer won't be available in the initial few matches. In his absence, Umesh Yadav will spearhead the attack and the senior Indian pacer is not known for his exploits in T20 cricket. At the Mumbai pitches, especially at Wankhede, you need quality pace bowlers and for KKR the likes of Shivam Mavi, Rasikh Dar alongside Umesh will be the best available option until Cummins finishes his international duty.

Furthermore in bowling, this team depends heavily on the Narine-Chakravarthy duo's eight overs of spin to tame the opponent. This season they also have Anukul Roy in the scheme of things. However, at Wankhede and CCI the pitches as well as the dimension of the grounds won't be conducive to slow bowlers. So, the management will have to come out of their comfort zone to prepare a different bowling plan.

On the batting front, the think-tank has still not decided on Venkatesh's opening partner. With Hales no longer available, ideally they would like to put a power-hitter upfront who can take advantage of the powerplay. But the available options like Rahane or Finch might not be suitable for the job. Sam Billings can open but in that case there will be too much pressure on Shreyas in the middle-order. Hence, perhaps the only possible option to do the job is Nitish Rana, who had opened for KKR in the past. But with two left-handed makeshift openers at the top, there can be a bit of vulnerability.

Finally, their fortunes in this IPL will yet again heavily depend on the form and fitness of the greatest impact player — Russell. His explosive batting and two overs in the depth are important parts of KKR's gameplan. But in case he suffers an injury during the tournament, which the Jamaican generally does, the think-tank doesn't seem to have a quality backup option as the possible replacement can be Chamika Karunaratne or Mohammad Nabi.

Season prediction

Looking at the current circumstances, KKR will not start the season as one of the favourites to make it to the playoffs. But it is going to be a long tournament and this team certainly knows how to turn things around, much like what they did at the UAE-leg of the IPL last year.

 

Kolkata Knight Riders Squad for IPL 2022

Overseas: Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Sam Billings (WK), Aaron Finch, Tim Southee, Chamika Karunaratne, Mohammad Nabi

Locals: Shreyas Iyer, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Shivam Mavi, Sheldon Jackson (WK), Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Rasikh Dar, Baba Indrajith, Abhijeet Tomar, Pratham Singh, Ashok Sharma, Ramesh Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Aman Khan

Head-coach: Brendon McCullum

First-choice XI

Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (C), Sam Billings (Overseas/ WK), Andre Russell (Overseas), Sunil Narine (Overseas), Pat Cummins (Overseas), Anukul Roy, Shivam Mavi, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy

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