WinDaddy exclusive review about the biopic of the Kolkata Knight Riders Squad in the season 14 of the Indian Premier League T20 2021 has the crust garnished with chilling fireworks with major takeaways without falling prey into queens gambit.
A genuinely world-class partner for Shubman Gill at the top of the order is lacking and improvements from Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi (both averaged in the 20s in the UAE) are needed to ensure powerplay wickets don’t unravel the innings.
While the seam attack has fireworks, regular wickets could become a problem meaning Lockie Ferguson’s fitness will be vital.
If Varun Chakravarthy, who wasn’t deemed fit enough for the England series doesn’t repeat last season’s heroics (17 wickets at 20.94) then the spin ranks are short of genuine star performers.
Harbhajan Singh arrives to sprinkle some stardust on that contingent, but it is an area that lacks dynamism. Sunil Narine and Kuldeep Yadav need to rediscover their best.
While assertaning the strengths of the team WinDaddy wraps up this entire game plan in just a couple of words. The middle-order of Shakib, Morgan, Karthik and Andre Russell gives KKR plenty of options depending on how the innings is shaping up. The skipper was deployed as the finished most often, but that will surely be adjusted this year.
As mentioned throughout, there is a strong battery of quicks who all bring plenty of pace and excitement, but striking on the right blend will be vital in order to harness that talent.
Captain: Eoin Morgan
Coach: Brendon McCullum
Best finish: Champions (2012, 2014)
Last season: Fifth
Eoin Morgan: By some considerable distance last season was the England skipper’s most fruitful campaign, scoring 418 runs at 41.80 and an IPL career-best of 68 not out against Rajasthan Royals.
It was a particularly impressive return given he took over the captaincy after seven matches of the campaign from Dinesh Karthik. Now in tandem with close friend and head coach Brendon McCullum for a full season for a first time, it will be terrific if he can apply the direction and drive he provides his country for KKR. Failure to finish in the top four wasn’t the best of starts.
Shakib Al Hasan: Having missed out on several allrounders during the auction, it was just as well KKR were able to pick up Shakib early on. Now concerns over his participation have been cleared up (he may still miss the playoffs) after a falling out with the Bangladesh Cricket Board, the focus is on turning around a rather underwhelming IPL career (746 and 59 wickets in 63 games) and improving on his standing of 268th in the men’s T20 Player Index.
Pat Cummins: The Australia quick took time to re-adapt to albeit familiar surroundings last year after his much-hyped return to KKR, but 12 wickets in 14 games represented a solid return.
Cummins admitted to feeling the burden of his 15.50crore price tag and that pressure will return. He also observed that reputations and valuation won’t suddenly turn conditions in his favour, and he could struggle to have a real impact if pitches don’t provide bounce and pace.