In this article, we offer you our SWOT Analysis of three-time Indian Premier League champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) following the IPL 2025 Mega Auction.
Strength
The Knight Riders walked into the IPL 2025 Mega Auction having already retained six members from their 2024 title-winning squad. Despite having one of the smallest budgets, the KKR hierarchy were able to put together a competitive squad.
The KKR will hope that new arrival Quinton de Kock can emulate what Phil Salt did for them last season, while the lack of an anchor player means there will be added responsibility on the shoulders of Venkatesh Iyer, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, and Rinku Singh.
The team already boast one of the best spin duos in Sunil Narine and Varun Chakraborty, while the likes of Mayank Markande, Anukul Roy, and Moeen Ali will give them some much-needed depth and variation when playing in turning wickets.
Weakness
With Mitchell Starc off to the Delhi Capitals, the new KKR management has roped in Spencer Johnson and Anrich Nortje as their overseas fast bowlers. However, both Johnson and Nortje struggled during last IPL season.
Johnson, playing for the Gujarat Titans last term, leaked 9.5 runs per over, while Nortje went over 13 runs per over in his six games for the Capitals. Although only one of them will make the playing XI for the Knight Riders, the fact that neither bowler has been effective during either powerplay or death overs should be a cause for concern. Moreover, the Knight Riders’ Indian fast-bowling contingent is inexperienced and lacks cover, with Umran Malik being the only backup to the likes of Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora.
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Opportunity
The 19-year-old Angkrish Raghuvanshi burst onto the scene last season with a 54 off 27 balls in his IPL debut against the Delhi Capitals. Batting with a strike-rate of 155, the 2022 U19 World Cup winner played some crucial roles in the KKR setup led by Shreyas Iyer and Gautam Gambhir. However, with Shreyas off to the Punjab Kings, the onus will be on Raghuvanshi to build on his debut campaign.
The KKR now have two experienced campaigners in Ajinkya Rahane and Manish Pandey; Raghuvanshi finding his feet would outweigh what Rahane and Pandey may bring to the table. Thus, it’s likely that the management give the 19-year-old an extended run in the #4 role.
Threat
Sunil Narine’s batting will be a huge concern for the Knight Riders. The 36-year-old enjoyed his best-ever IPL campaign last season, scoring 488 runs at a strike rate of 180 and taking 17 wickets at an economy of just 6.69.
Since then, however, Narine has scored just 120 runs in 22 T20 innings, getting dismissed under 10 runs in 18 of those innings. If the veteran Trinidadian fails to reignite his form from last season, the KKR will find themselves in heaps of trouble, since it was Phil Salt and Narine’s opening onslaught last season that paved the way to many commanding victories.
Apart from that, there is a dearth of leaders. With Shreyas Iyer and Gautam Gambhir both out of the picture, the INR 23.75cr re-acquisition of Venkatesh Iyer means the left-hander is likely in line to be the next Kolkata Knight Riders skipper.
Additionally, Rinku Singh has vice-captained India’s T20I side on a couple of occasions, while they also have a reliable left-field shout in Ajinkya Rahane. The former Rajasthan Royals skipper knows what it takes to lead an IPL side, though after an impressive 2023 season with the Chennai Super Kings his 2024 campaign was littered with inconsistencies. Thus, the most important question is whether Rahane can be consistent over a 14-game campaign.
Probable XII: Sunil Narine, Quinton de Kock (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Spencer Johnson, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakraborty, Mayank Markande (Impact Sub)
Prediction: 7th
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