Kolkata Knight Riders

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Kolkata Knight Riders
Image:Knight Riders.JPG
Coach: Flag of Australia John Buchanan
Captain: Flag of India Sourav Ganguly
Colors: Black and Gold
Founded: 2008
Home Ground: Eden Gardens
Capacity: 90,000
Owner: Shahrukh Khan, Juhi Chawla & Jai Mehta
CEO: Joy Bhattacharya
Official Website: Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders (also referred to as KKR) is the franchise representing Kolkata in the Indian Premier League. The team is led by Sourav Ganguly, who is also the Icon Player for the team, and coached by John Buchanan. The official theme of the team is Korbo, Lodhbo, Jeetbo Re (We will do it, Fight for it, Win it) and the official colors are black and gold.

Contents

Franchise History

Kolkata Knight Riders is one of the franchise of the eight team taking part in the Indian Premier League. It was bought by Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment in partnership with Juhi Chawla Mehta and her husband, Jai Mehta.

2008 IPL Season

Performance

The Knight Riders had a good beginning to the season by winning their first two matches against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Deccan Chargers. Knight Riders' opening batsman Brendon McCullum scored 158 runs in the first match, which is a record for the highest runs ever scored by a batsman in a Twenty-20 match.[1] However, the team started experiencing failures and lost consecutive four matches. The team managed to stage a comeback of sorts by winning next three matches based on strong performances by Sourav and Shoaib Akhtar. But their performance dipped again and lost next three matches, which included their match against Mumbai Indians, in which they were bowled out for 67 runs, the lowest score by a team in IPL.[2] When their match against Delhi Daredevils was washed out due to rain, they lost any chance of making it to the semifinals.[3]. The Knight Riders ended their season on a winning note by defeating Kings XI Punjab on their home ground.

Controversy

There were reports of a rift between Shahrukh Khan and Sourav Ganguly over various issues such as team composition, Sourav's choice of batting first in the game against Chennai Super Kings, entertainment tax being imposed for matches played at Eden Gardens (Shahrukh reportedly wanted Sourav to speak to the West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya about it, which was refused by Sourav).[4] It was also reported that Shahrukh Khan bestowed more powers to John Buchanan including giving him full powers to select the team for the following year which was not liked by Sourav.[4] However, the team management issued a statement that the reports of a possible rift are untrue.[5]

Shahrukh Khan was further barred by the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit from entering the dressing room of the team when matches were in progress. Shahrukh Khan then issued a statement that he would be boycotting the remaining matches of the IPL till the code of conduct was clarified by the IPL authorities.[6]

Livery

The Kolkata Knight Riders team celebrating the fall of a wicket
The Kolkata Knight Riders team celebrating the fall of a wicket

The logo of the team consists of a blazing golden viking helmet against a black background with the name of the team Kolkata Knight Riders written in gold. The main theme of the team Korbo, Lorbo, Jitbo Re (We will do it, Fight for it, Win it) has been created by Vishal-Shekhar duo.[7] A Knight Rider album with several singers and music composers including Usha Uthup and Bappi Lahiri will also be created.[8] The tag line of the team is All the King's Men.[7] The team's official colours are black and gold. Black stands for the courage of Maa Kali and gold stands for the spirit of winning.[8] The jersey was created by Bollywood fashion designer Manish Malhotra.[7] The team also has a mascot named Hoog Lee, who is a lazy Royal Bengal Tiger and loves to eat burgers. The name is a pun on the river Hooghly. The name Knight Riders has been chosen keeping in view the kids and the youth.[7]

Players

Sourav Ganguly, the former captain of the Indian cricket team is the icon player and led the Kolkata franchise. The team also includes the Australian captain Ricky Ponting, allrounder Chris Gayle, David Hussey, Tatenda Taibu and wicket keeper batsman Brendon McCullum. The main bowlers are Shoaib Akhtar, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Dinda, Ajit Agarkar and Murali Karthik. Team also includes Umar Gul, Mohammad Hafeez and Salman Butt. Australian batsman Brad Hodge and Sri Lankan bowler, Ajantha Mendis, are recent additions to the squad. [9][10]

Current squad

Batsmen

No. Name Age Nationality Batting Style Bowling/Fielding Bidding/Sign-in Price
8 David Hussey 30 Flag of Australia Australia Right-handed Right-arm off-break US$625,000
14 Ricky Ponting 33 Flag of Australia Australia Right-handed Right-arm medium US$400,000
00 Salman Butt 23 Flag of Pakistan Pakistan Left-handed Right-arm off-break US$100,000
11 Akash Chopra 30 Flag of India India Right-handed Right-arm medium US$62,500 - Delhi - Ranji Trophy Player
Cheteshwar Pujara 22 Flag of India India Right-handed Right-arm off-break US$62,500 - Saurashtra - Ranji Trophy Player
Rohan Banerjee 19 Flag of India India Left-handed Right-arm medium US$62,500 - Bengal Under-22 Team Player
Yashpal Singh 26 Flag of India India Right-handed Right-arm medium US$62,500 - Services - Ranji Trophy Player
Debabrata Das 21 Flag of India India Right-handed Right-arm off-break US$62,500 - Bengal Under-22 Team Player
Brad Hodge 33 Flag of Australia Australia Right-handed Right-arm off-break US$62,500

Wicket Keepers / All Rounders

No. Name Age Nationality Batting Style Bowling/Fielding Bidding/Sign-in Price
1 Sourav Ganguly (Captain) 35 Flag of India India Left-handed Right-arm medium US$1,092,500 (Icon Player)
13 Tatenda Taibu 24 Flag of Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Right-handed Wicket keeper US$125,000
6 Wriddhiman Prashanta Saha 23 Flag of India India Right-handed Wicket keeper US$62,500 - Bengal - Ranji Trophy Player
42 Brendon McCullum 26 Flag of New Zealand New Zealand Right-handed Wicket keeper US$700,000
Chris Gayle 28 Flag of the West Indies Cricket Board West Indies Left-handed Right-arm off-break US$800,000
68 Ajit Agarkar 30 Flag of India India Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium US$350,000
5 Mohammad Hafeez 27 Flag of Pakistan Pakistan Right-handed Right-arm off-break US$100,000
Iqbal Abdullah 18 Flag of India India Left-handed Left-arm orthodox spin US$30,000 - India - Under-19 Team Player
7 Laxmi Ratan Shukla 26 Flag of India India Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium US$62,500 - Bengal - Ranji Trophy Player

Bowlers

No. Name Age Nationality Batting Style Bowling/Fielding Bidding/Sign-in Price
29 Ishant Sharma 19 Flag of India India Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium US$950,000
14 Shoaib Akhtar 32 Flag of Pakistan Pakistan Right-handed Right-arm fast US$450,000
25 Murali Kartik 31 Flag of India India Left-handed Left-arm orthodox spin US$425,000
Ajantha Mendis 23 Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Left-handed Left-arm orthodox spin
Umar Gul 24 Flag of Pakistan Pakistan Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium US$150,000
Siddarth Kaul 17 Flag of India India Right-handed Right-arm medium US$30,000 - India - Under-19 Team Player
Ranadeb Bose 29 Flag of India India Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium US$62,500 - Bengal - Ranji Trophy Player
Sourashish Lahiri 26 Flag of India India Right-handed Left-arm orthodox spin US$62,500 - Bengal - Ranji Trophy Player
2 Ashok Dinda 26 Flag of India India Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium US$62,500 - Bengal - Ranji Trophy Player

Administration and Coaching staff

Front Office
Coaches

Fixtures and Results

Kolkata Knight Riders 2008 Season

No. Date Opponent Venue Result
1 18 April Royal Challengers Bangalore Bangalore Won by 140 runs, MoMBrendon McCullum – 158* (73)
2 20 April Deccan Chargers Kolkata Won by 5 wickets, MoMDavid Hussey – 38* (43)
3 26 April Chennai Super Kings Chennai Lost by 9 wickets
4 29 April Mumbai Indians Kolkata Lost by 7 wickets
5 1 May Rajasthan Royals Jaipur Lost by 45 runs
6 3 May Kings XI Punjab Mohali Lost by 9 runs
7 8 May Royal Challengers Bangalore Kolkata Won by 5 runs, MoMSourav Ganguly – 20 (22) and 1/7 (3 overs)
8 11 May Deccan Chargers Hyderabad Won by 23 runs, MoMSourav Ganguly – 91 (57), 2/25 (4 overs) and 2 catches
9 13 May Delhi Daredevils Kolkata Won by 23 runs, MoMShoaib Akhtar – 4/11 (3 overs)
10 16 May Mumbai Indians Mumbai Lost by 8 wickets
11 18 May Chennai Super Kings Kolkata Lost by 3 runs (decided by D/L method due to rain interruption)
12 20 May Rajasthan Royals Kolkata Lost by 6 wickets
13 22 May Delhi Daredevils Delhi Match abandoned due to rain
14 25 May Kings XI Punjab Kolkata Won by 3 wickets, MoMUmar Gul – 4/23 (4 overs) and 24 (11)


External links

References