Kolkata Knight Riders are the defending champions of the IPL having won the title last season. They won the title under Shreyas Iyer but he was not retained in the mega auction. This year, they managed to assemble a good squad and named Ajinkya Rahane as their captain.
Venkatesh Iyer, the all-rounder was their costliest but at 23.75 crores. The management did not burden him with captaincy but instead announced him as the vice-captain of the side. The franchise has maintained the continuity by retaining the core in Iyer along with Andre, Russell, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Rinku Singh. KKR kick off their campaign opener against RCB on March 22 at the Eden Gardens.
Kolkata Knight Riders Complete Squad - IPL 2025
Batters: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh
Wicketkeepers: Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Luvnith Sisodia
All-rounders: Moeen Ali, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell
Bowlers: Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Spencer Johnson, Mayank Markande, Anrich Nortje, Chetan Sakariya, Varun Chakaravarthy
Kolkata Knight Riders - Predicted Playing 11
Sunil Narine, Quinton de Kock (wk), Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandep Singh, Anrich Nortje / Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora
Batting Analysis
Top Order
De Kock and Narine can form an attacking partnership at the top for KKR. Narine was the surprise package last season for KKR along with Phil Salt. In Quinton de Kock, KKR have found almost a like for like replacement for the England keeper-batsman. De Kock's best years at MI came opening the batting and being attacking. This is what he will look to do at KKR as well.
Middle-Order
Ajinkya Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer can bat at three and four in the lineup. The captain and the vice-captain should provide solidity to the batting lineup for all the other batters to play around them.
Lower-Order
KKR by far have the most powerful and destructive lower around among all the teams in the competition. Rinku Singh at five, Andre Russell at six and Ramandeep Singh at seven can plunder any bowling attack on their day. The trio can be destructive for any bowling attack. Their performance in the series can very well decided the tournament for KKR.
Bowling Analysis
Pace Attack
KKR's pace attack looks a decent one. They have good overseas pacers in Anrich Nortje and Spencer Johnson. Nortje is a bit injury-prone and hence it is Spencer Johnson who might the nod ahead of the Protean pacer. In Harshit Rana, KKR now have an experienced pacer. Vaibhav Arora is always a good backup option. He bowled economically in IPL 2024 and often produced wickets inside the powerplay. Then there is always the ever-reliable Andre Russell. He scored over 200 runs in the IPL last year and picked up 19 wickets in the season.
Spin Attack
KKR have a good pace attack but it is their spin attack that is their real strength. Varun and Narine have taken the most wickets among all the spinners in the last two years in the IPL. Narine was the MVP of the tournament last year finishing the season with 17 wickets apart from scoring 488 runs in the season. If he can replicate that, KKR should surely qualify for the playoffs. Varun's recent form in the England white-ball series and then the Champions Trophy makes him one of the spinners to watch out for this season.
Kolkata Knight Riders Coaching StaffÂ
KKR have managed to assemble a good coaching staff. Its a new coaching staff but an experienced coaching staff nonetheless. Chandrakant Pandit remains the head coach. KKR have roped in Dwayne Bravo as the mentor Ottis Gibson as the Assistant coach. Bharat Arun will continue as their bowling coach. They also have Carl Crowe as their spin-bowling coach and Biju George as their scouting head and fielding coach.
