IPL 2019: Kolkata Knight Riders have formidable first XI, but lack of bench strength may hurt them

Kolkata Knight Riders suffered a few major blows even before the tournament. Young Indian pace duo Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti were ruled out of the entire campaign. A few days ago, they suffered another setback with rookie South Africa speedster Anrich Nortje also sidelined with a shoulder injury.

In recent years, Kolkata’s success was built around two major factors – their formidable top-order and the spinners. The upcoming season looks no different with the team management making few changes to what looks like a settled unit. In Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell and young Shubman Gill, they have enough firepower at the top. It remains to be seen what veteran Robin Uthappa can come up with. The 33-year-old has been a reliable customer for Kolkata over the years. Swashbuckling batsman Nitish Rana, too, is a bankable batsman.

The two-time champions had a relatively quiet time at the auctions this time, continuing to stockpile young Indian talent. West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite and New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson were their only major buys. Having released eight players, including high-profile names such as Mitchell Starc and Tom Curran, a depleted bench might just come back to hurt the side in the latter half of the tournament.

Take the success of Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings last season. Of course, one has to factor in the astute leadership of Kane Williamson and MS Dhoni but SRH and CSK used their bench strength to good effect during the business end of the tournament.

However, Kolkata have traditionally been guilty of petering out at the business end of the tournament. CSK proved that experience is a vital quality to have in the IPL and Kolkata have plenty of it in their ranks.

History

Big changes for 2019

A more mature Shubman Gill, with a breakthrough year in domestic cricket behind him, could be like a new weapon this year for KKR. He was often used lower down the order in 2018 but the franchise could (and should) use him at the top of the order this year and allow him to flourish.

Apart from that, KKR’s campaign in 2019 is not one marked by any major change.

South Africa great Jacques Kallis and Simon Katich have been associated with the team for a while now and that is where the aforementioned stability comes into play. With workload management an important theme during the course of the tournament, the second-string players are simply not in the same league as Kolkata’s stalwarts in the first XI.

The spinners will continue to be the team’s calling card with three quality options in their ranks. The pace department, with the likes of Mavi and Nagarkoti missing out, wears a slightly depleted look. It is unsure how England’s Harry Gurney and Ferguson will slot in. That can be said about Windies all-rounder Brathwaite as well. Lynn, Narine and Russell are obvious selections in the XI. Ferguson looks like the frontrunner to take the fourth overseas player spot.

As for the pacers, Prasidh Krishna, an unknown quantity last year stepped up given a chance. Will Kerala pacer Sandeep Warrier get his chance this year?

Indian players under World Cup radar

Kolkata have a few players who are in the scheme of things for the World Cup, but mostly looking in from the outside. This is a crucial tournament for skipper Karthik, who was overlooked for the Australia One-day International series. The battle is on between the 33-year-old and Rishabh Pant for a spot in the middle-order and thereby take the backup keeper spot as well.

Karthik enjoyed a good IPL season as captain in 2018, despite his surprise promotion. Young guns such as Gill, Krishna and Mavi flourished under him.

Gill, who was recently given a run-in during India’s New Zealand tour, will also fancy his chances. The Punjab batsman, as mentioned earlier, had a terrific run for Punjab in the Ranji Trophy and seamlessly slotted into the Kolkata middle-order in his debut IPL season. Another good run here and Gill will enter the conversation yet again with India’s no 4 spot still up for grabs.

Kuldeep Yadav, without a doubt, will be India’s first-choice spin option. Despite being among the wickets, the wrist-spinner took a bit of a beating against Australia in the recent ODI series. There are first signs that batsmen around the world are reading him a lot better. His form too, will be closely monitored given that he is such a crucial component of India’s bowling attack.

Players to watch out for

Yadav is a crowd-puller and with Kolkata being spin-heavy, he will have a huge part to play if his side has to go far. It won’t be a surprise to see him wear the purple cap. Karthik was a revelation as a finisher last time around and, as mentioned earlier, this is his final opportunity to convince the selectors of nailing down a spot that will fly to United Kingdom.

Among the foreign players, Russell is among the more popular stars of the IPL, and is a genuine match-winner. The same can be said about Russell’s compatriot Sunil Narine, who can win games with bat and ball.

Squad

Dinesh Karthik (c), Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shubman Gill, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Shivam Mavi, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Carlos Brathwaite, Anrich Nortje, Lockie Ferguson, Harry Gurney, Nikhil Naik, Yarra Prithviraj, Shrikant Mundhe, Joe Denly