The Kolkata Knight Riders or simply the KKR may not have done a great job in the IPL so far but they are definitely one of the most talked about teams. The Kolkata Knight Riders are co-owned by Bollywood Superstar Shahrukh Khan. India’s opening batsman Gautam Gambhir is the Captain of the KKR having taken over from the home lad Sourav Ganguly last season.
The home ground of the KKR is the Eden Gardens which is one of the best venues in the World because of its incredible crowd capacity. This season, the KKR seem to be the underdogs but they do have a few world class match-winners. Brendon McCullum, Yusuf Pathan, Eoin Morgan with the bat, all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, fast bowlers Brett Lee and James Pattinson and West Indian off spinner Sunil Narine are the star attractions of the KKR.
The Kolkata Knight Riders Squad:
Gautam Gambhir (Captain), Manoj Tiwary, Eoin Morgan, Debabrata Das, Jacques Kallis, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Rajat Bhatia, Ryan ten Doeschate, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Chirag Jani, Brad Haddin (Wicket Keeper), Manvinder Bisla (Wicket Keeper), Brendon McCullum (Wicket Keeper), Sanju Samson (Wicket Keeper), Sarabjit Ladda, James Pattinson, Shami Ahmed, Pradeep Sangwan, Iqbal Abdulla, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Brett Lee, Jaydev Unadkat, Sunil Narine, Marchant de Lange, Iresh Saxena
Support Staff of Kolkata Knight Riders: Trevor Bayliss (Coach), Wasim Akram (Mentor), Vijay Dahiya (Assistant Coach), Andrew Leipus (Physiotherapist), Adrian Le Roux (Physical Trainer), AR Srikkanth (Analyst), Joy Bhattacharjya (Team Director), Rudi Webster (Mental Skills Coach)
Statistics of Kolkata Knight Riders:
DLF IPL 2008: KKR had a poor start to the IPL finishing at a modest sixth position. The Knight Riders won 6 matches, lost 7 matches and one match was abandoned.
DLF IPL 2009: A disastrous show in South Africa saw the Kolkata Knight Riders slip to the last position in the IPL 2 with just the three wins and as many as 10 losses! One game was abandoned.
DLF IPL 2010: It was only a slight better show from the KKR in the third edition of the IPL though they could only come up with the sixth position. It was a mixed season with the KKR winning 7 and losing 7 matches.
DLF IPL 2011: It was the best that the KKR could come up in the IPL as they finished fourth and with that a spot in the Semi Finals. They went down in the Semis against Mumbai Indians. The KKR won 8 matches and lost 6 in the league phase.
The overall stats of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL are:
Matches Played: 53
Matches Won: 23
Matches Lost: 28
Matches with No Result: 2
Fixtures and Time Table of Kolkata Knight Riders in the league phase of the DLF IPL 2012:
# Apr 5: Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Delhi Daredevils at Eden Gardens, Kolkata (20:00 IST)
# Apr 8: Rajasthan Royals Vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur (16:00 IST)
# Apr 10: Royal Challengers Bangalore Vs Kolkata Knight Riders at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore (16:00 IST)
# Apr 13: Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Rajasthan Royals at Eden Gardens, Kolkata (20:00 IST)
# Apr 15: Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Kings XI Punjab at Eden Gardens, Kolkata Delhi (16:00 IST)
# Apr 18: Kings XI Punjab Vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh (20:00 IST)
# Apr 22: Deccan Chargers Vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack (20:00 IST)
# Apr 24: Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Deccan Chargers at Eden Gardens, Kolkata (20:00 IST)
# Apr 28: Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Royal Challengers Bangalore at Eden Gardens, Kolkata (20:00 IST)
# Apr 30: Chennai Super Kings Vs Kolkata Knight Riders at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai (20:00 IST)
# May 5: Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Pune Warriors at Eden Gardens, Kolkata (16:00 IST)
# May 7: Delhi Daredevils Vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi (20:00 IST)
# May 12: Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Mumbai Indians at Eden Gardens, Kolkata (16:00 IST)
# May 14: Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Chennai Super Kings at Eden Gardens, Kolkata (20:00 IST)
# May 16: Mumbai Indians Vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai (20:00 IST)
# May 19: Pune Warriors Vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium, Pune (20:00 IST)
