Sports
Holders KKR bank on mix of youth, experience for title defence (IPL team profile)
By
By Debdoot DasKolkata, April 2
After several disastrous
seasons in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
finally got into their stride in 2012 after winning the title and
reclaiming it in 2014.
The defending champions may not look the
best side on paper but they sure carry the potential to defend and again
hold aloft the coveted trophy.
The Gautam Gambhir-led side has a
quality mix of youth and experience and have come through tough
situations holding their nerves. The vociferous skipper will leave no
stone unturned to seek what they achieved in the last edition.
The skipper has new armoury to bank on, but he would still want his old guns to fire.
Though
the Knights have not made many changes to their squad, they have
brought in former Pakistan cricketer Azhar Mahmood and South African
off-spinner Johan Botha as replacements for New Zealand all-rounder
Jimmy Neesham and Australian middle-order bat Chris Lynn.
KKR's
most extravagant buy this season is Bengaluru off-spinner K.C.
Cariyappa, who stuck a jackpot commanding a price of Rs 2.4 crore at the
auction. Termed as a "mystery spinner" the 17-year-old has not even
featured in a first-class game.
The team's spin spearhead West
Indies spinner Sunil Narine, though cleared by the International Cricket
Council (ICC) for his suspect bowling action, has been barred by the
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
He has to go
through bio-mechanical tests in Chennai before he is allowed to play in
the tournament. The management has threatened to pull-out if the
champion right-arm spinner is not allowed to take part.
This time
too, all eyes will be on top-order batsman Robin Uthappa, who was a
revelation for his side last year amassing 660 runs from 16 matches at
an astonishing average of 44.00, took home the Orange Cap for being the
highest run-getter in the tournament.
Giving the spinning
department might will be veteran Australian chinaman Brad Hogg who
picked 10 wickets from nine matches in 2012, when he turned up for the
Rajasthan Royals.
Sheldon Jackson, the Saurashtra batsman, also has been roped as the second choice wicket-keeper.
Leading
the pace attack will be South African spearhead Morne Morkel,
Australia's Pat Cummins, and India's most successful bowler in the World
Cup Umesh Yadav.
As defending champions the men in purple will
go out all guns blazing to defend their title, it is the
general-in-chief Gambhir who has to mix the aggression with required
calmness and see to it that his team does not falter.
The KKR squad:
(Indians)
Gautam
Gambhir (captain), Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa (wicketkeeper), Piyush
Chawla, Yusuf Pathan, Umesh Yadav, Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav Veer,
Pratap Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sumit Narwal, Sheldon Jackson, Aditya
Garhwal, KC Cariappa, Vaibhav Rawal, Manish Pandey.
(Foreigners)
Shakib Al Hasan, Morne Morkel, Pat Cummins, Ryan ten Doeschate, Andre Russell, Brad Hogg, Azhar Mahmood, Johan Botha.
Team
Schedule - Home: vs Mumbai Indians (April 8), Royal Challengers
Bangalore (April 11), Rajasthan Royals (April 26), Chennai Super Kings
(April 30), Sunrisers Hyderabad (May 4), Delhi Daredevils (May 7), Kings
XI Punjab (May 9)
Away: Kings XI Punjab (April 18), Delhi
Daredevils (April 20), Sunrisers Hyderabad (April 22), Chennai Super
Kings (April 28), Royal Challengers Bangalore (May 2), Mumbai Indians
(May 14), Rajasthan Royals (May 16)
IPL record: 2008-6th, 2009-8th, 2010-6th, 2011-4th, 2012-1st, 2013-7th, 2014-1st
(Debdoot Das can be contacted at [email protected])