The Kolkata Knight Riders are one team that is struggling to find their groove in the 2021 IPL season. The Knights from Kolkata haven’t played to their mark. Players including their captain Eoin Morgan have failed to fire and hence the team is placed second last in the IPL table. Of the 7 games played, KKR has won only 2. Their game against CSK was a treat to watch but the outcome wasn’t fruitful for the Knights. Here’s a quick analysis of the team: –
Strengths of Kolkata Knight Riders: –
Kolkata has its major strength with its foreign players as well. Apart from this their Indian and Overseas pace battery gives them the extra edge. Players like Andre Russell and Lockie Fugerson have experience of playing all over the world. Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Sandeep Warrier, and Prasidh Krishna are the best lot of Indian Pacers. KKR is full of impact players. Russell, Bhajji, Morgan, and Ben Cutting are the ones who can float in the order to accelerate the innings.
Weakness of Kolkata Knight Riders: –
KKR evidently does not have a weakness as they seemed to have covered all the basics. But the spin department looks a bit tacky. Kuldeep Yadav has been misfiring and Sunil Narine is not the Narine of 2012 anymore. Varun Chakravarthy on the other hand at times leaks runs. The absence of Pat Cummins adds a lot of responsibility to Lockie Furgeson and Tim Southee. The foreign pace slot is looking vulnerable.
Opportunities for Kolkata Knight Riders: –
The second leg has several opportunities on offer for KKR. It is a good time for Andre to get into his groove just before the marquee T20 World Cup. He can get into his hard-hitting best and decimate bowling lineups from the word go! It is about time for batsman DK to step up as well. Dinesh has been in the domestic circuit for a very long time and an impactful performance is due for a long time. The experience of Tim Southee can come in handy as well. The biggest opportunity is for Shubhman Gill. Gill has been on and off since the WTC and is looking to bang down the door of the national team.
Threats for Kolkata Knight Riders: –
The biggest threat for KKR is the opener’s conundrum. KKR strictly cannot continue with Sunil Narine and Shubhman Gill. They need to bring in some more reliable commodities. Nitish Rana and Tim Siefert are the front runners in this spot. If they continue with Narine, they are bound to fail as you cannot go into this cricket festival with a slam-bang approach. It will not pay good dividends in return. Another threat is misfiring spinners. If the spinners find their spot on the pitch KKR is bound to leak runs in the middle overs.
