Thanks to Pandit’s coaching skills, KKR will again win the IPL title
Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be aiming to win the Indian Premier League title again after nine years, so they will have high hopes from coach Chandrakant Pandit’s strategic acumen but the team is plagued by injuries and lack of quality players in the batting line-up. Have to cross. KKR bought eight players in the IPL auction in December last year, with Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan being the most expensive player at Rs 1.5 crore.
KKR also bought Namibian all-rounder David Voisey for Rs 1 crore and in-form Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper batsman N Jagadishan for Rs 90 lakh. Bangladesh star batsman Liton Das is also a part of KKR. Apart from this, KKR also added Vaibhav Arora (Rs 60 lakh), Suyash Sharma (Rs 20 lakh), Kulwant Khejroliya (Rs 20 lakh) and Mandeep Singh (Rs 50 lakh). Here is the team analysis ahead of KKR’s first match against Punjab Kings at Mohali on April 1.
Strengths: The strongest side of KKR is the presence of quality all-rounders in the team. Over the years, the Kolkata team has focused on strengthening their all-rounder department and the same is the case this time around. The West Indies pair of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine have made a mark in the past but have at times lacked consistency. The team has other quality all-rounders in Shakib, David and Venkatesh Iyer. But all eyes will be on Pandit who has replaced Brendon McCullum as the coach of KKR.
Pandit is coaching an IPL team for the first time. He has, however, been a part of Ranji Trophy champions six times before with three different state associations. Mumbai, Vidarbha and Madhya Pradesh won Ranji titles under his guidance. The IPL starting on Friday will test Pandit’s coaching mettle as he strives to get the team its first title since 2014. Weakness: In the absence of Shreyas Iyer, KKR’s top order will be weak which is a matter of concern for the team.
Iyer is likely to be ruled out of the entire IPL this year due to a back injury. Last year, KKR could not find success with their opening pair, which was the main reason for their struggle. Now it has to be seen how pundits improve in this department this year. KKR are likely to open the innings with the right and left arm pairing of Liton and Narine while skipper Nitish Rana, Jagadishan, Shakib and Russell will man the middle order. Venkatesh could also be an option for Pandit at the top of the order but the new coach would like to avoid too many changes in the team.
Opportunities: KKR’s team has not performed up to expectations in the last few IPLs and last year they finished seventh out of 10 teams. In the upcoming season, the team will have a chance to prove its critics wrong. The team has a new coach who knows how to get positive results. There will be no dearth of suggestions but the players will have to execute it on the field.
If top-order batting is a concern for the team, then KKR have a strong bowling unit. Umesh Yadav will lead the pace attack while Shardul Thakur and Tim Southee will support him. Shakib, Narine and Varun Chakraborty will handle the responsibility in the spin department. The Threat: The biggest threat for KKR is over-reliance on individual performances and coach Pandit needs to look into this department as any team will need a team effort to win a competitive tournament like the IPL. There have been occasions when one or two players have won matches for teams but cricket is a team sport and the key to success in the long run is collective effort.
