KKR Team Preview IPL 2023: Franchise Banking on Nitish Rana's Energy, Chandrakant Pandit's Brilliance

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Kolkata Knight Riders Team Preview IPL 2023: Under the leadership of newly-appointed skipper Nitish Rana and head coach Chandrakant Pandit, KKR will continue their quest for a third title triumph

It’s been almost a decade since Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won their last Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy. Back in 2014, a Gautam Gambhir-led side defeated Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) by three wickets to win their second title. Since then, the franchise saw multiple changes in their leadership setup but the quest to get the third trophy in its cabinet continues. As the new season is set to unfold, the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise will try out its luck once again and give its best possible shot at winning the title.

IPL 2023 Full Coverage | IPL 2023 Schedule | IPL 2023 Results | IPL Orange Cap | IPL Purple Cap

KKR made wholesale changes to their team management which began with roping in one of the finest coaches in the Indian domestic circuit, Chadrakant Pandit. Termed the ‘Alex Ferguson of the Indian domestic cricket’ by one of the ex-KKR skippers, Dinesh Karthik, Chandu Sir will be key in fulfilling the franchise’s dream. He comes into the camp with his ethics and army-like discipline which has done wonders for the likes of Vidarbha, Mumbai and most recently Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy. It would be interesting to see how the players are going to deal with him and his module.

Another highlight is the newly-appointed skipper Nitish Rana who replaces an injured Shreyas Iyer for the season. Rana, a Delhi boy who is a renowned figure in the league, has been associated with the franchise for quite a long time now. Giving him the charge is quite a decision as it’s going to be his debut as a leader in the IPL.

With Chandu sir’s excellence and Rana’s flamboyancy, along with the overseas firepower, is ‘KKR Hai Taiyyar’ for the upcoming season of the IPL? Time will tell.

How They Fared Last Time

KKR ended up seventh on the points table with six victories and eight losses, garnering 12 points in the season. They had a positive net run rate of 0.146 at the end of the season.

Top Players to Watch Out For

Rahmanullah Gurbaz: Afghanistan players are a treat to watch in the shortest format of the game and KKR have one of them in their squad. Gurbaz comes to the KKR camp after a historic T20I series win against Pakistan in which he scored 78 runs in three innings. He is an excellent wicketkeeper and gives a great option to the team in the top-order.

Nitish Rana: The skipper will definitely be in focus as he is new to the leadership business in the IPL. So far, he has played 91 games in IPL and has scored 2181 runs at an average of 27.96. He has 15 half-centuries to his credit with the highest score of 87.

Andre Russell: The dynamic Caribbean all-rounder has been one of the crucial cogs in the KKR camp but he hasn’t exhibited his best version in the past couple of seasons. On his day, Russell can turn the course of the match any moment with the bat in hand and that’s the prime reason why the franchise shows faith in him.

Strongest Playing XI

Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Harshit Rana.

Full Squad

Nitish Rana (Captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, Narayan Jagadeesan, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma, David Weise, Kulwant Khejrolia, Mandeep Singh, Litton Das, Shakib Al Hasan.

KKR Full Schedule

KKR open their campaign against Punjab Kings at Mohali before hosting Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Eden Gardens at home.

Here is KKR’s complete IPL 2023 schedule