Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) looked like a decent side on paper in IPL 2024 but their fearless approach resulted in the team defying all the odds and went on to win the championship. The Shreyas Iyer-led side dominated all their opponents, including Sunrisers Hyderabad, who they faced on the night of the finals. The openers Phil Salt and Sunil Narine were unstoppable while Shreyas, Venkatesh Iyer and Andre Russell had a remarkable season with the bat.
With the ball, Mitchell Starc outperformed others in the playoffs while the likes of Harshit Rana and Varun Chakravarthy were extremely effective throughout the season. Courtesy of a compact performance from both batting and bowling units, KKR went on to lift the trophy. The franchise was elated with the success but what followed next felt like an anti-climax. Mentor Gautam Gambhir, along with two other coaches - Ryan ten Doeschate and Abhishek Nayar left the franchise to join the Indian team.
Shreyas Iyer, who led the team to success in 2024, didn’t agree terms with KKR and that resulted in the cricketer being released ahead of the mega-auction. Several other key players, such as Salt, Starc, Venkatesh, Vaibhav Arora and Nitish Rana were released and out of which, the team could only manage to get back two players - Venkatesh and Vaibhav.
The defending champions will be a new look in 2025. The likes of Russell, Narine, Varun and Rinku were retained, who have been part of KKR for several years but will have to adapt to the new system. Russell, for instance, had a tough time in figuring out head coach Chandrakant Pandit’s methods and once again with Gambhir not being around, it needs to be seen how he goes about business.
The openers will have a massive responsibility, to say the least. Narine and Salt were a formidable duo but since IPL 2024, the veteran hasn’t fired with the bat, while Quinton de Kock no longer plays an aggressive brand of cricket and Rahmanullah Gurbaz is inconsistent. There will be a massive responsibility on Venkatesh as well. The all-rounder was bought for a whopping INR 23.75 crore and in case he fails to fire, KKR will land in big trouble.
For Rinku, it's the season for redemption. He was in the scheme of things for the T20 World Cup in 2024 but was axed at the last minute. He didn’t get enough opportunities last year but is expected to return to number five this time around, followed by Russell and Ramandeep at six and seven.
Finally, Rahane has a massive task on his hands. He was magnificent in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, which helped him be named the new KKR captain but doing well in the IPL requires high skill and there’s doubt if Rahane can manage to live up to the expectations. As a captain, the veteran has all the talent and is arguably one of the best leaders in IPL 2025 but in case he fails with the bat, things will fall quickly for the 2024 champions.
Bowling, on the other hand, looks sorted but they lack a Starc-like international pacer. Anrich Nortje and Spencer Johnson can put up a decent show but lack X-factor. Rana and Vaibhav will be extremely vital.