Introduction
Representing the city of Kolkata, India, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), a franchise cricket team that plays in the India Premier League (IPL), is owned by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla and her spouse Jay Mehta.
The home ground for KKR is Eden Gardens Stadium, Kolkata. The team, being a popular team for its association with Bollywood celebrities, entered the IPL playoffs for the first time in 2011. Kolkata Knight Riders became champions in 2012 and 2014.
The official colours of the team are purple and gold, while their official anthem is Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo Re (we will perform, fight, and win).
The League
In 2007, the Indian Premier League, a professional men’s Twenty20 cricket league, was founded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The IPL is contested by ten teams from ten different Indian cities.
IPL has had fourteen seasons so far, with the majority of them taking place between March and May of each year.the most-attended cricket league in the world, in 2014, considering the average attendance among all sports leagues, the IPL was ranked sixth.
In 2019, according to Duff & Phelps, the IPL had a brand value of Rs. 47,500 crores (USD 6.2 billion). According to the BCCI, the IPL contributed Rs. 1,150 crores to India’s GDP in 2015.Currently, Chennai Super Kings hold the IPL title after winning the 2021 season.
Captain: Shreyas Iyer
Brendon McCullum is the coach.
Red Chillies Entertainment (55%) and Mehta Group (45%) are the owners.
CEO and managing director: Venky Mysore
City: Kolkata
Founded on January 24, 2008.
Home Ground: Eden Gardens Stadium, Kolkata
Capacity: 68,000
History
The Kolkata Knight Riders team was bought at a price of USD 75.09 million, approximately INR 2.98 billion in 2008. The team was headed by the former captain of the Indian team and current president of the BCCI, Sourav Ganguly.
The team’s ownership group bought a stake in the Caribbean Premier League’s Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel in 2015. The team also made an investment in the American T20 league, Major League Cricket, in 2020.
The team also announced their entry into the South African T20 league. The team was filled with prominent faces like Sourav Ganguly, Chris Gayle, Shoaib Akhtar, and other popular Indian players like Dinesh Karthik, Iqbal Abdulla, and Ishant Sharma.
Kolkata Knight Riders’s main rivals are the Mumbai Indians, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and the Chennai Super Kings.
Home Ground
Having the iconic Eden Gardens stadium as the team’s home ground, it was the largest cricket stadium in India owned by the Cricket Association of Bengal. The stadium formerly had a capacity of 90,000, but in 2011, to meet the standards of the International Cricket Council for the 2011 Cricket World Cup, the stadium was renovated, and at present, it has a capacity of 68,000.
The newly renovated stadium has a clubhouse and players’ facilities.
Identity and players
| Player Name | Nationality | Auction Price | Role | Age | Year signed |
| Shreyas Iyer | India | INR 12.25 Crores | Batsman | 27 | 2022 |
| Nitish Rana | India | INR 8 crores | Batsman | 28 | 2022 |
| Ajinkya Rahane | India | INR 1 crores | Batsman | 33 | 2022 |
| Rinku Singh | India | INR 55 Lakhs | Batsman | 24 | 2022 |
| Abhijeet Tomar | India | INR 40 Lakhs | Batsman | 27 | 2022 |
| Pratham Singh | India | INR 20 Lakhs | Batsman | 29 | 2022 |
| Aaron Finch | AustraliaÂ
(overseas)Â |
INR 1.5 crores | Batsman | 35 | 2022 |
| Ramesh Kumar | India | INR 20 Lakhs | Batsman | 23 | 2022 |
| Sheldon Jackson (WK) | India | INR 60 Lakhs | WK-Batsman | 35 | 2022 |
| Sam Billings (WK)Â | EnglandÂ
(overseas)Â |
INR 2 crores | WK-Batsman | 30 | 2022 |
| Baba Indrajith | India | INR 20 Lakhs | Batsman | 27 | 2022 |
| Varun Chakravarty | India | INR 8 Cr (Retained) | Bowlers | 30 | 2020 |
| Pat Cummins | AustraliaÂ
(overseas)Â |
INR 7.25 Crores | Bowlers | 28 | 2022 |
| Rasikh Dar | India | INR 20 Lakhs | Bowlers | 20 | 2022 |
| Ashok Sharma | India | INR 55 Lakhs | Bowlers | 19 | 2022 |
| Tim Southee | New ZealandÂ
(overseas)Â |
INR 1.5 crores | Bowlers | 33 | 2022 |
| Umesh Yadav | India | INR 2 crores | Bowlers | 34 | 2022 |
| Chamika Karunaratne | Sri Lanka (overseas) |
INR 50 Lakhs | Bowlers | 25 | 2022 |
| Shivam Mavi | India | INR 7.25 Crores | Bowlers | 23 | 2022 |
| Andre Russell | West IndiesÂ
(overseas)Â |
INR 12 Cr (Retained) | All-rounder | 33 | 2014 |
| Venkatesh Iyer | India | INR 8 Cr (Retained) | All-rounder | 27 | 2021 |
| Sunil Narine | West IndiesÂ
(overseas)Â |
INR 6 Cr (Retained) | All-rounder | 33 | 2012 |
| Anukul Roy | India | INR 20 Lakhs | All-rounder | 23 | 2022 |
| Aman Khan | India | INR 20 Lakhs | All-rounder | 25 | 2022 |
| Mohammad Nabi | AfghanistanÂ
(overseas)Â |
INR 1 crores | All-rounder | 37 | 2022 |
Kits and Sponsors
From 2008 to 2013, Reebok was the kit manufacturer for Kolkata Knight Riders. In the years 2014 and 2015, U.S. Polo Assn. became the kit manufacturer. From 2016 to 2020, Lux Cozi was the kit manufacturer. At present, Wrogn takes the responsibility of being the kit manufacturer for KKR.
The shirt sponsor (chest) is WinZO, and the shirt sponsor (back) is Unacademy for the year 2022. Lux Cozi does the chest branding for 2022.
Brand Value
In 2008, the franchise was bought for around USD 75.09 million (INR 265.5 crores). The brand value of KKR is the second-highest among IPL franchises in 2018. In 2018, it was estimated to cost USD 104 million.
The value in 2019 was around INR 629 crores (about USD 83 million). KKR currently has a brand value of INR 543 crores.
Statistics
The team had all-time run-scorer Gautam Gambir during the first few series. Sunil Narine is the team’s leading wicket-taker. The team at present has Shreyas Iyer, the best batsman in inter-nation cricket. Gautam Gambir led the team in scoring with 3346 runs.
Gautam Gambir also holds the record for the most half-centuries (30) and fours (383).KC Cariappa of KKR has the best strike rate at 300.00. Owais Shah of KKR also has the best batting average of 57.50. Sunil Narine, the team’s leading wicket-taker, has 145 wickets.
Shoaib Akhtar has the best bowling average of 10.80. While Ryan Mclaren has the most runs conceded with a record of 4-60-2,
Results
In 2011, the purple-and-gold team qualified for the playoffs for the first time. They had their first victory in 2012 by defeating Chennai Super Kings. Again in 2014, they became IPL champions by defeating Kings XI Punjab.
The team qualified for the playoffs in the years 2011, 2016, 2017, and 2018. In 2021, KKR became the first runners-up.
Published by – Kiruthiga K
Edited by – Kritika Kashyap
