KkR SWOT Analysis: The Kolkata Knight Riders are a convincing team in the IPL, with some great performances from this team over all these years. The champions of 2012 and 2014 made it to the finals in 2021, seven years after their final victory in 2014. KKR veterans like Russell and Narine, who once were the backbone of the team, now seem to stumble with their performances, which led to KKR’s disappointment in the last season.
Strengths
KKR have almost relaunched their team for the 2023 IPL with many active trades and buys. Opening batsman Gurbaz, who has been a stunning performer recently in the shorter format, can do wonders for the team.
Skipper Iyer, who now has adequate international experience, is expected to play a good role in the team’s batting alongside Rana, who has been a part of Kolkata for many years now and has had a glorious domestic season.
Another strength of the KKR squad is in their bowling lineup: Shardul, Umesh, Ferguson and Russell will play a good hand in KKR’s bowling innings.
Weaknesses
KKR’s incredible run in the latter half of the 2021 IPL season, where they made it to the finals after a slow start, was courtesy of Venkatesh Iyer’s unexpected mid-season inclusion, whose immense contribution propelled his team to the finals. However, Venky Iyer had a disappointing run in the last edition, where he failed miserably.
Sunil Narine, a Knights veteran, has also been a source of concern for the Knights, as the star player has struggled in recent years. Knight’s auction pick of the Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib, the ICC’s No. 1 ODI and T20I cricketer, can prove to be a replacement for Narine, but even his recent form has not been very convincing in the shorter format of the game.
Opportunities
KKR, after a very disappointing season last year, would be looking to enhance their chances in the 16th edition of the IPL, and with their informed skipper and many new players like Shardul and Ferguson, they would look too fancy for their chances in the title race.
Another impressive pick of KKR is Narayan Jagadeesan, the wonder star of Indian domestic cricket this year, who sniffed past Rohit’s highest individual score of 264 with 277 runs. He is a highly anticipated player for the Knights, and they hope he puts strong resistance in the KKR middle order.
Last but not least, there is a comeback chance for Andre Russell. Not only Knights fans, but all cricket fans around the world would celebrate his return to form. His return to form would be a treat to watch.
Threats
KKR lacks proper backup options or alternatives to the former playing 11. The KKR frontline players look convincing but have nothing in store if any of these players get injured or are ruled out due to any other emergency or commitment.
Though the Knights squad has promising young, talented players, they lack senior, experienced players. The few senior players who exist in their squad are in terrible shape and have failed to impress anyone with their performance.
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