The defending champions from the previous season of IPL 2024, the Kolkata Knight Riders, have not had the finest of auctions as they made the most controversial decision of bringing back the all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer for a whopping INR 23.75 crores after having released him prior to the auction.
Despite having made this strange decision, they also got some essential as well as vital picks like Quinton de Kock and also Protea legendary pace bowler Anrich Nortje.
The Kolkata side has a new mentor in Dwayne Bravo, the IPL legend, as Gautam Gambhir left the spot vacant after being appointed the Indian head coach. The Knight Riders will defend their title for the first time since 2015 when they defended their title from 2014.
KKR Full Squad for IPL 2025:
Batters: Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, and Ajinkya Rahane.
Wicketkeepers: Quinton De Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and Luvnith Sisodia.
All-Rounders: Sunil Narine, Moeen Ali, Anukul Roy, André Russell, and Ramandeep Singh.
Bowlers: Harshit Rana, Umran Malik, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Spencer Johnson, and Anrich Nortje.
SWOT analysis of Kolkata Knight Riders:
Strength:
The biggest strength of the Kolkata Knight Riders team lies in their most veteran all-rounders, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, the two players who have been constant match-winners for them over the seasons.
Also, Varun Chakravarthy, who made his return to international cricket, has been on a roll since then, alongside Harshit Rana, the youngster making it big with his impact in Australia.
Weakness:
KKR’s team, despite looking to consolidate their side, still lacks several vital roles, like that of a proper no. 3. With Shreyas Iyer having been left out of the team, the KKR middle order will not have the services of Nitish Rana as well, which adds to their concern of a middle order lacking its backbone.
Opportunities:
KKR’s most expensive player, Venkatesh Iyer, has been the most sporadic player who might look to capitalize on the KKR middle order in the absence of any further veteran players and sight his chances for the national team.
While also Young Angkrish Raghuvanshi, the Mumbai boy who played some knocks worth remembering last season, is also back with a bang in the KKR side, seeking further opportunities this season, probably at a suitable No. 3 position.
Threats:
The defending champions have released their title-winning skipper from the previous season, and hence their biggest threat lies in no such player in their squad being likely for the role of a captain. As per recent reports, Ajinkya Rahane has been the front-running name for the captaincy role in the KKR camp.
