Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders
Nickname(s) Knights
League Indian Premier League
Personnel
Captain Dinesh Karthik
Coach Jacques Kallis
Owner Shah Rukh Khan (Red Chillies Entertainment)
Juhi Chawla, Jay Mehta (Mehta Group)
Team information
City Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Colours KKR
Founded 2008
Home ground Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Capacity 68,000[1]
History
Indian Premier League wins 2 (2012, 2014)
Official website: kkr.in

T20I kit

Kolkata Knight Riders in 2018

The Kolkata Knight Riders (also known by the acronym KKR) are a franchise cricket team representing the city of Kolkata in the Indian Premier League. The franchise is owned by Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla and her spouse Jay Mehta. The team is coached by Jacques Kallis. The home of the Knight Riders is Eden Gardens, the largest cricket stadium in India and the second largest in the world by seating capacity.[2]

Although the team has gained immense popularity due to its association with celebrity owners, it was surrounded with controversy and poor on-field performance through the first three years of the tournament.[3] The team's performance, however, improved from the fourth season as it qualified for the IPL playoffs as well as the now defunct Champions League Twenty20. They eventually became the IPL champions for the first time in 2012, by defeating Chennai Super Kings in the final and repeated the feat in 2014, defeating Kings XI Punjab.[4] The Knight Riders hold the record for the longest winning streak by any Indian team in T20s (14).[5]

The leading run-scorer of the side is Gautam Gambhir,[6] while the leading wicket-taker is Sunil Narine.[7] The official theme of the team is Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo Re (we will perform, fight and win!) and the official colours are purple and gold. The brand value of the Knight Riders was estimated at $99 million in 2017, second highest among IPL franchises.[3].

Franchise history

Sourav Ganguly with the symbol of the Kolkata Knight Riders, flanked by Shahrukh Khan on the left and Gauri Khan on the right.

In 2007, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) created the cricket tournament Indian Premier League based on the Twenty20 form of the game.[8] Eight teams would participate in the inaugural tournament held in April – June of the same year. The teams representing the eight different cities of India were put up on auction in Mumbai on 20 February. The team representing Kolkata was eventually bought by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's company Red Chillies Entertainment in partnership with actress Juhi Chawla and her husband Jay Mehta for a price of $75.09 million, equal to approximately ₹2.98 billion at that time.[9] Sourav Ganguly, former captain of the Indian national team and a native of West Bengal, was named the Icon Player for the team. The name of the team is a reference to the popular 1980s American television series Knight Rider.[10]

In June 2015, they bought a stake in the Caribbean Premier League cricket team Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel[11] and later in 2016, renamed it Trinbago Knight Riders.[12] In July 2017, they bought Cape Town Knight Riders in the newly formed T20 Global League.[13]

Livery


Initially, when Kolkata Knight Riders were first introduced in 2008, the logo of the team consisted of a blazing golden Viking helmet against a black background with the name of the team written in gold next to it. However, the black background was changed to purple in the fourth season. It was in 2012 that the current logo, which has a blazing purple Corinthian helmet trimmed with gold, with Kolkata Knight Riders written within a shield was introduced.[14]

The tagline of the team was "All the King's Men" during the first four seasons.[15] However, in the fifth it was replaced by "New Dawn, New Knights". The team's official colours were black and gold during the first two seasons. At the time, Khan said that "golden symbolizes spirit of life and black presents the Goddess Kali."[15] It was later changed to purple and gold during the third season and was kept so. The jersey was created by Bollywood fashion designer Manish Malhotra.[15]

The main theme of the team Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo Re (we will act, fight and win!) was scored by Vishal-Shekhar duo.[15] A Knight Riders album featuring several singers and music composers including Usha Uthup and Bappi Lahiri was also created.[16][17]

Home ground

The home venue of the Knight Riders is the iconic Eden Gardens (with the two ends of the crease called the High Court End and the Club House End). Owned by the Cricket Association of Bengal, it is the largest cricket stadium in India and had a seating capacity of over 90,000.[18] In 2011, the stadium was renovated to meet the standards set by the ICC for the 2011 Cricket World Cup; reducing its capacity to around 68,000. The renovated stadium includes a new clubhouse and players' facilities, upgrading the exterior wall, cladding the existing roof structure with a new metal skin, and general infrastructure improvements.[19] In 2013, two of the team's home matches were hosted by the JSCA International Cricket Stadium in Ranchi.

Panoramic view of the Eden Gardens stadium during IPL 2008

Sponsors and partners

Multinational communications corporation Nokia was the official founding sponsor of the Kolkata Knight Riders and remained their principal sponsor until 2014.[20][21][3] In 2015, Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Gionee took over as their principal sponsor and signed a three-year deal worth ₹540 million (US$7.5 million).[22] In 2018, Nokia returned as the main sponsor of the Knight Riders, signing a two-year deal.[23] Star Plus, Reebok, HDIL, Kit Kat, Sprite, SB Nation, Doublemint, SAP AG, Red FM 93.5, Seiko, U.S. Polo Assn., Uber, Dish TV, Sansui, Ola Cabs, Pepsi and Sony Music India have all formerly been either their co-sponsors or partners.

As of 2018, they have co-sponsorship deals with Jio, Lux Cozi, SRMB Steel, Exide, Royal Stag, JBL, The Telegraph, Fever 104 FM, Greenply and Kingfisher Premium along with several others.[24]

Year Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor (Front) Shirt sponsor (Back) Chest Branding
2008 Reebok Nokia HDIL Reebok
2009 Star Plus
2010 Goa XXX
2011 Matrix
2012 Rose Valley Group
2013
2014 U.S. Polo Assn. Sansui U.S. Polo Assn.
2015 Gionee
2016 Lux Cozi
2017 Jio
2018 Nokia

Players

Sourav Ganguly, the former captain of the Indian cricket team was the icon player and led the franchise in the 2008 and 2010 seasons. Brendon McCullum lead the team in the intervening period. Both captains were released before the 2011 season. The former team included all-rounders Chris Gayle, David Hussey, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Angelo Mathews, batsman Ricky Ponting and wicket keeper Wriddhiman Saha. The main bowlers were Umar Gul, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Dinda, Ajit Agarkar and Murali Karthik. Australian batsman Brad Hodge and bowlers Ajantha Mendis and Charl Langeveldt were bought outside the IPL auction in late 2008.

At the 2009 auction the team bought Bangladeshi all-rounder Mashrafe Mortaza at a whopping price of $600,000 dollars. Due to the unavailability of Pakistani players starting 2009, KKR had to suspend the contract of Umar Gul, who was a key performer from the 2008 season.[25][26] On 26 April 2009, KKR administration sent back two of its players Akash Chopra and Sanjay Bangar on the premises of poor performance.[27] Shane Bond was acquired after releasing Ricky Ponting, Morne van Wyk and the Pakistani players Umar Gul, Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Akhtar before the third season. Moises Henriques was traded to Delhi in return for Owais Shah and Manoj Tiwary. Thus, their overseas roster for the 2010 season consisted of Shane Bond, Mashrafe Mortaza, Brendon McCullum, Charl Langeveldt, Ajantha Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Owais Shah and Chris Gayle.

2011 heralded the beginning of a new era for KKR. In the 2011 season, KKR drastically revamped their squad. Former captain and icon player Sourav Ganguly was not purchased in the January auction. This led to protest rallies, signature campaigns throughout the country and abroad along with stadium protests by various fan groups, such as No Dada No KKR,[28] which received both national and international press attention.[29][30][31] The team appointed Gautam Gambhir, who was bought for a record-breaking $2.4 million as skipper.[32] Yusuf Pathan was also picked up for a whopping $2.1 million.[32] Other international names who were added include Shakib Al Hasan, Brad Haddin, Jacques Kallis, Brett Lee, Ryan ten Doeschate, Eoin Morgan and James Pattinson. Haddin was replaced by Mark Boucher mid-season due to injury.[32]

In the 2012 auction, KKR bought back their former captain, Brendon McCullum. They also acquired West Indian spinner Sunil Narine and South African fast bowler Marchant de Lange.

The team later added four domestic players to their squad, including Debabrata Das and Iresh Saxena from Bengal, Saurashtra's Chirag Jani and Sanju Samson from Kerala.[33] However, in November 2012, KKR released the latter three from their team along with Jaydev Unadkat, a key performer from the previous seasons. In the 2013 auction, the team acquired only two overseas players, Sachithra Senanayake and Ryan McLaren.

Before the February 2014 auction, the team had only retained their key performers Gautam Gambhir and Sunil Narine. From the auctions that took place, the team brought back Jacques Kallis and Yusuf Pathan with their right-to-match (RTM) card. Also keeping their place in the squad was Ryan ten Doeschate and Shakib Al Hasan. New international players were Morne Morkel, Patrick Cummins and Chris Lynn. Prominent Indian players bought included Robin Uthappa, Umesh Yadav, Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav and Piyush Chawla.

KKR's impressive additions in the 2015 auction were veteran Australian bowler Brad Hogg and wicket-keeper Sheldon Jackson. Before the auction in February 2016, they released Ryan ten Doeschate who was a part of their team for five consecutive seasons along with pace bowler Pat Cummins. The Knight Riders were particularly noted for their change in approach from the previous auctions where they had concentrated on spinners. For the 2016 edition, however, they acquired as many as six pacers in the form of all-rounders John Hastings, Colin Munro, Jason Holder and Rajagopal Sathish as well as bowlers Ankit Rajpoot and Jaydev Unadkat, with the latter being a former player of the squad. They signed one spinner in Manan Sharma.[34] Before the 2017 auctions, they released Morne Morkel, Brad Hogg, Jason Holder, Colin Munro, John Hastings, Jaydev Unadkat, Rajagopal Sathish, Manan Sharma and replacement signing Shaun Tait. From the 2017 Indian Premier League auction, they signed Trent Boult, English all-rounder Chris Woakes, Australian Nathan Coulter-Nile, West Indian Darren Bravo and Jamaican Rovman Powell. The domestic players signed were Rishi Dhawan, Ishank Jaggi, Sayan Ghosh and R Sanjay Yadav. At the time, Andre Russell was banned for one year for doping; he was replaced by Colin de Grandhomme for the season. In January 2018, they only retained West Indian cricketers Sunil Narine and Andre Russell. Their two-time title winning captain Gautam Gambhir was released. At the auction, they retained Robin Uthappa, Piyush Chawla and Kuldeep Yadav using RTM (Right-To-Match) card. KKR also bought back their impressive opener Chris Lynn and uncapped Indian batsman Ishank Jaggi. Other uncapped batsmen bought were Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Cameron Delport, Rinku Singh and Apoorv Wankhade. They also bought West Indian uncapped all-rounder Javon Searles and uncapped Indian all-rounders Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi. Other signings were veteran Indian wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik, Australian pace bowlers Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson and former Knight Riders player Vinay Kumar.

On 4 March 2018, Dinesh Karthik was appointed as the captain of KKR for IPL 2018 and Robin Uthappa was named vice-captain.[35] Mitchell Starc was ruled out before the season due to injury and Tom Curran was announced as his replacement.

Seasons

IPL Year Final Standing League Standing Note
2008 League stage 6th out of 8
2009 League stage 8th out of 8
2010 League stage 6th out of 8
2011 Playoffs: 4th 4th out of 10 Lost to MI in the Eliminator
2012 Champions 2nd out of 9 Won against CSK in the Final
2013 League stage 7th out of 9
2014 Champions 2nd out of 8 Won against KXIP in the Final
2015 League stage 5th out of 8
2016 Playoffs: 4th 4th out of 8 Lost to SRH in the Eliminator
2017 Playoffs: 3rd 4th out of 8 Won against SRH in the Eliminator, Lost to MI in the Qualifier 2
2018 Playoffs: 3rd 3rd out of 8 Won against RR, Lost to SRH in Qualifier 2

The Knight Riders qualified for the Champions League Twenty20 in 2011, 2012 and 2014. The latter was the last edition of the tournament before it being permanently called off. The team was eliminated in the group stage in 2011 and 2012, but finished as runners-up in the ultimate season.

Squad

  • Players with international caps are listed in bold.
No. Name Nat Birth date Batting style Bowling style Signed year Salary
Notes
Batsmen
3Rinku SinghIndia (1997-10-12) 12 October 1997Left-handedRight-arm off break2018₹80 lakh (US$111,000)
24Cameron DelportSouth Africa (1989-05-12) 12 May 1989Left-handedRight-arm medium2018₹30 lakh (US$42,000)Overseas
27Nitish RanaIndia (1993-12-27) 27 December 1993Left-handedRight-arm off break2018₹3.4 crore (US$473,000)
50Chris LynnAustralia (1990-04-10) 10 April 1990Right-handedSlow left-arm orthodox2018₹9.6 crore (US$1.3 million)Overseas
77Shubman GillIndia (1999-09-08) 8 September 1999Right-handedRight-arm off break2018₹1.8 crore (US$251,000)
N/AIshank JaggiIndia (1989-01-27) 27 January 1989Right-handedRight-arm leg break2018₹20 lakh (US$28,000)
N/AApoorv WankhadeIndia (1992-03-14) 14 March 1992Right-handed2018₹20 lakh (US$28,000)
All-rounders
12Andre RussellJamaica (1988-04-29) 29 April 1988Right-handedRight-arm fast-medium2018₹7 crore (US$974,848.00)Overseas
74Sunil NarineTrinidad and Tobago (1988-05-26) 26 May 1988Left-handedRight-arm off break2018₹8.5 crore (US$1.2 million)Overseas
86Javon SearlesBarbados (1986-12-21) 21 December 1986Right-handedRight-arm fast-medium2018₹30 lakh (US$42,000)Overseas
N/AKamlesh NagarkotiIndia (1999-12-28) 28 December 1999Right-handedRight-arm fast2018₹3.2 crore (US$446,000)
Wicket-keepers
19Dinesh KarthikIndia (1985-06-01) 1 June 1985Right-handedRight-arm off break2018₹7.4 crore (US$1.0 million)Captain
37Robin UthappaIndia (1985-09-11) 11 September 1985Right-handedRight-arm medium2018₹6.4 crore (US$891,000)Vice-captain
Bowlers
21Piyush ChawlaIndia (1988-12-24) 24 December 1988Left-handedRight-arm leg break2018₹4.2 crore (US$585,000)
23Kuldeep YadavIndia (1994-12-14) 14 December 1994Left-handedSlow left-arm chinaman2018₹5.8 crore (US$808,000)
32Shivam MaviIndia (1998-11-26) 26 November 1998Right-handedRight-arm fast-medium2018₹3 crore (US$418,000)
33Vinay KumarIndia (1984-02-12) 12 February 1984Right-handedRight-arm medium-fast2018₹1 crore (US$139,000)
43Prasidh KrishnaIndia (1996-02-19) 19 February 1996Right-handedRight-arm medium-fast2018₹20 lakh (US$28,000)
59Tom CurranEngland (1995-03-12) 12 March 1995Right-handedRight-arm fast-medium2018₹1.62 crore (US$226,000)Overseas[36]
N/AMitchell StarcAustralia (1990-01-30) 30 January 1990Left-handedLeft-arm fast2018₹9.4 crore (US$1.3 million)Overseas

    Administration and support staff

    (l-r) Shahrukh Khan, Juhi Chawla and Jay Mehta, co-owners of KKR in 2012

    Head coaches

    Statistics

    Overall results

    IPL summary of results
    Year Played Wins Losses Tied NR Win % Position
    2008 14670146.166/8
    2009 14391123.078/8
    2010 14770050.006/8
    2011 15870053.334/10
    2012 181250170.581/9
    2013 166100037.507/9
    2014 161141068.751/8
    2015 14760153.845/8
    2016 15870053.334/8
    2017 16970056.253/8
    2018 16970056.33/8
    Total 16886762453.1
    • Abandoned matches are counted as NR (no result)
    • Win or loss by super over or boundary count are counted as tied.

    Result summary

    Opposition Span Mat Won Lost Tied Win %
    India Chennai Super Kings2008–2015; 2018-present16610037.5
    India Delhi Daredevils2008–present19127063.15
    India Kings XI Punjab2008–present21147066.66
    India Mumbai Indians2008–present21516023.80
    India Rajasthan Royals2008–2015; 2018-present1567246.66
    India Rising Pune Supergiant2016–2017431075.00
    India Gujarat Lions2016–2017413025.00
    India Royal Challengers Bangalore2008–present21129055.00
    India Sunrisers Hyderabad2013–present1495064.29
    India Deccan Chargers2008–2012972077.77
    India Kochi Tuskers Kerala201120200.00
    India Pune Warriors India2011–2013541080.00

    Overall results in CLT20

    YearMatchesWinsLossesNo resultWin %Summary
    2011 633050.005/10 (13)
    2012 412133.336/10 (14)
    2014 651083.332/10 (14)
    Total 1696160.00
    Result summary in Champions League
    OppositionSpanMatWonLostTiedNRWin %
    New Zealand Auckland Aces2011–20122110050.00
    South Africa Chevrolet Warriors201111000100.00
    India Delhi Daredevils2012101000.00
    Australia Perth Scorchers2012–201421001100.00
    India Royal Challengers Bangalore201111000100.00
    England Somerset Sabres2011202000.00
    Australia South Australia Redbacks2011101000.00
    South Africa Nashua Titans201211000100.00
    India Chennai Super Kings20142110050.00
    South Africa Dolphins201411000100.00
    Australia Hobart Hurricanes201411000100.00
    Pakistan Lahore Lions201411000100.00

    See also

    References

    1. ↑ "Eden Gardens". www.iplt20.com. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
    2. ↑ "IPL 2014 Venues". India Today. 11 April 2014.
    3. 1 2 3 "Brand IPL gets stronger, valuation soars to $5.3 billion". Economic Times. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
    4. ↑ "Kolkata Knight Riders win IPL 5, beat Chennai Super Kings". Retrieved 13 October 2012.
    5. ↑ "Records / Twenty20 matches / Team records / Most consecutive wins". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
    6. ↑ "Kolkata Knight Riders / Records / Twenty20 matches / Most runs". Stats. cricinfo.com. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
    7. ↑ "Kolkata Knight Riders / Records / Twenty20 matches / Most wickets". Retrieved 30 May 2012.
    8. ↑ "Everything you wanted to know about the Indian Premier League". Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 February 2008.
    9. ↑ "Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata IPL team to be called Night Riders or Knight Riders". Cricinfo. 9 February 2008.
    10. ↑ Roy, S.K. & Chakraborti, R (September 23, 2013). "Chapter 6: Getting There". In Mutum, Dilip. Marketing Cases from Emerging Markets. Springer Science and Business Media. p. 70. ISBN 9783642368615.
    11. ↑ "KKR owners buy stake in CPL franchise T&T Red Steel". www.espncricinfo.com. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
    12. ↑ "Superstar Shah Rukh Khan's CPL franchise is now Trinbago Knight Riders". Zee News. 10 February 2016.
    13. ↑ "Cape Town welcomes Kolkata Knight Riders franchise to Newlands". cricket.co.za. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
    14. ↑ "Kolkata Knight Riders unveil new look, new logo". NDTV. 14 February 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
    15. 1 2 3 4 "King Khan launches Kolkata Knight Riders". Yahoo. 11 March 2008. Archived from the original on 16 March 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
    16. ↑ "Kolkata Knightriders launched amidst gloom". Hindustan Times. 11 March 2008. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
    17. ↑ "No new videos for IPL teams!". Oneindia.in. 24 February 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
    18. ↑ Eden Gardens | India | Cricket Grounds | ESPN Cricinfo. Content-ind. cricinfo.com. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
    19. ↑ "Kolkata's Eden Gardens stadium gets a new look for Cricket World Cup 2011". World Interior Design Network. Archived from the original on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
    20. ↑ "Nokia renews contract with Kolkata Knight Riders for IPL 4". Economic Times. 1 April 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
    21. ↑ "Reebok offers IPL merchandise". Indianretailer.com. 16 April 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
    22. ↑ "Gionee clinches KKR sponsorship for ₹54 cr". The Hindu. 4 April 2015.
    23. ↑ "Nokia coming back as principal sponsor of Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2018". Business Standard. 1 April 2018.
    24. ↑ "Official website".
    25. ↑ "Kolkata Knight Riders Sq­". Cricinfo. 26 April 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2008.
    26. ↑ "Hodge joins IPL for five weeks". Cricinfo. 26 April 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2008.
    27. ↑ "KKR send back Chopra, Bangar". Indian Express. 27 April 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
    28. ↑ Cricket (2011-04-14). "IPL: Fans Make 'No Dada, No KKR' Campaign a Success". SportsKeeda. Retrieved 2012-02-01.
    29. ↑ India, Press Trust of. "Without Ganguly, Eden gets poor response". NDTVSports.com. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
    30. ↑ "Dada fans still hope of his return - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
    31. ↑ "Facebook's Ganguly fans plan protest march - The Times of India". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
    32. 1 2 3 "Kolkata Knight Riders bank on Gambhir". The Times of India. 9 April 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
    33. ↑ "KKR sign four domestic players for IPL-5 : Cricketnext". Cricketnext.in.com. 1 March 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
    34. ↑ "From Buttler fortifying Mumbai Indians to KKR's faith in pace: SWOT analysis of IPL auction". Firstpost. 8 February 2016.
    35. ↑ "Karthik to lead KKR in IPL 2018". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
    36. ↑ "Tom Curran replaces Starc in Kolkata Knight Riders squad". ESPNCricinfo. 30 March 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
    37. ↑ "B-school boy gets back to the game". The Economic Times. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
    38. ↑ "Shahrukh Khan's 'Red Chillies' appoints Venky Mysore as CEO". The Economic Times. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
    39. ↑ "KKR appoint Venky Mysore as CEO". Mumbai. 24 September 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
    40. ↑ "Data Cruncher: AR Srikkanth, Video Analyst, Kolkata Knight Riders". The Economic Times. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
    41. ↑ "Dav Whatmore profile". Retrieved 31 May 2012.
    42. ↑ Kallis appointed Knight Riders head coach
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