They have won the Indian Premier League (IPL) twice, but when it comes to locking horns with the world’s best clubs in the Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) haven’t tasted success anyway near to what they have in the IPL. And the Shah Rukh Khan-owned club will want to set that record straight in 2014.

The double IPL champions have enough gunpowder in their barrels to put any T20 team down, and their chances to do that multiply manifold on home soil in India, where this sixth edition of the CLT20 will be hosted.

The leadership of Gautam Gambhir has transformed the team into champion material, wherein not just Gambhir but other seniors in the team, like Jacques Kallis, have doubled up as mentors to grow from a team that always threatened to deliver but failed to cross the final hurdle.

But those days are gone. KKR are now a team to beat, more so on home turf, which makes them a formidable favourite to lift their maiden CLT20 trophy. The tough nature of KKR’s play was on view at the 2014 IPL, where the team got itself out of a deep hole when three ducks on the trot from skipper Gambhir and a losing run put a thick cloud of gloom over the camp. But the resolute nature displayed by the team resembled the stuff of champions that they eventually became and now are eagle-eying their first CLT20 triumph.

Strengths:

Gambhir commands respect as a captain and has been fiercely competitive on the field, never hiding his annoyance at a misfield or a bowler not bowling to his field. His leadership has certainly been the pivot around which the team’s fortunes have changed. Like other IPL teams in the fray, playing at home gives more power to KKR. To complement that, they have crafty T20 bowlers in Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla and the young Kuldeep Yadav, besides Vinay Kumar who likes bowling at the death on Indian pitches.

Weaknesses:

Over-reliance on Narine has sometimes hurt KKR. Gambhir has always been more worried about Narine’s overs, keeping at least two in the bank for home straight. Others in the bowling unit, like Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav and Chawla, will have to ensure that they step up to the plate to provide their skipper with more options in crunch situations. Kolkata are also expected to feel the void created by the absence of experienced Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan. He is serving a ban imposed on him by the Bangladesh Cricket Board, and though it has been reduced to allow him to play competitive cricket from September 15, the ban on ‘No Objection Certificate’ for foreign leagues stays until the end of next year. With 227 runs at a strike rate of 149.34 and 11 wickets, Shakib was one of the stars of KKR’s triumphant 2014 IPL campaign and they are sure to feel a gap in the eleven once they take field.

Key Players:

KKR’s batting turned a new leaf in 2014 IPL, where the silent bats of Gambhir and Kallis found voice in the willows of Orange Cap-winner Robin Uthappa (660 runs) and Manish Pandey (401 runs). And once Gambhir (335 runs) returned to form in the later half, KKR batting was a force to reckon with. And if these three can be joined by consistent Kallis and Yusuf Pathan, not many totals will look tall for KKR to scale. There’s no better exponent of T20 bowling than the wily West Indian Narine. His performance has been central to KKR’s two IPL trophies. With 21 wickets at an economy rate of 7.67 in the last edition of the IPL, he once again proved that he is the best in business when it comes to the ultra-limited form of cricket and is expected to remain so in this CLT20.

Side Notes:

This could be the last time we see the greatest allrounder of the modern era, Jacques Kallis, on a cricket field. Having retired from international cricket, Kallis would want to bid his IPL mates adieu on a victorious note, and nothing better than winning the CLT20 to do that. The tournament will also provide platform for India discards to press claim for World Cup berths. Leading that list will be opening batsmen Gambhir and Uthappa, legspinner Chawla, allrounder Pathan and fast bowlers Vinay Kumar. Umesh Yadav, who was in the ODI squad on England tour, will also want to put in some convincing performances to stay in selectors’ mind for the 2015 World Cup.

Squad:

Gautam Gambhir (c), Piyush Chawla, Pat Cummins, Jacques Kallis, Kuldeep Yadav, Morne Morkel, Sunil Narine, Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Andre Russell, Ryan ten Doeschate, Robin Uthappa (wk), Vinay Kumar, Suryakumar Yadav, Umesh Yadav with Coach: Trevor Bayliss and Team Mentor: Wasim Akram.

Courtesy: IBN LIVE