Kolkata Knight Riders: History, Squads, Staff, Captains

About Kolkata Knight Riders

The first three years under captains Sourav Ganguly and Brendon McCullum were disappointing. Although the team had stars like Ricky Ponting, Chris Gayle, and Ishant Sharma, their best finish was only sixth place.

With Gautam Gambhir as captain in 2011, KKR made their first playoffs. Key players like Yusuf Pathan and Jacques Kallis helped. In 2012, new players Sunil Narine and Robin Uthappa helped KKR win their first title. They won again in 2014 with Andre Russell in the squad. The next few years showed promise but no title, and Gambhir was dropped before the 2018 auction.

Dinesh Karthik led the team to third place in 2018 but stepped down mid-2020. Eoin Morgan took over and took KKR to the 2021 final. Morgan was dropped the next year; Shreyas Iyer replaced him and led KKR to their third title in 2024.

The 2012 title was a big turnaround after weak early seasons. The 2014 win was memorable as they chased 200 to beat Kings XI Punjab. The 2024 victory was their strongest, losing just three games and bowling out opponents six times; a record in one IPL season.

KKR’s early hopes under Ganguly failed partly due to clashes with coach John Buchanan’s style. Dropping Ganguly in 2011 upset fans. The team also faced ridicule over a mysterious “Fake IPL Player” blogger who claimed insider info, causing embarrassment.

Information
Founded	2008
Owners	Shah Rukh Khan (Red Chillies Entertainment), Juhi Chawla & Jay Mehta (Mehta Group)
Full Name	Kolkata Knight Riders
Nick Name	KKR, The Knights
Theme Song	Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo Re (We will do it, fight for it, win it)
Home Ground	Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Official Website	https://www.kkr.in/

KKR Coaching & Support Staff

Role	Coach / Staff
Head Coach	Abhishek Nayar
Mentor	Dwayne Bravo
Assistant Coach	Shane Watson
Batting Coach	Abhishek Nayar
Bowling Coach	–
Spin Bowling Coach	Carl Crowe
Fielding Coach	Ramandeep Singh
Strength and Conditioning Coach	Chris Donaldson
Physiotherapist	Prasanth Panchada
Assistant Physiotherapist	Abhishek Sawant
Team Manager	Wayne Bentley
Analyst	Nathan Leamon
Team Doctor	Dr. Srikanth Narayanaswamy

KKR Squad 2026

Position	Players
Captain	Ajinkya Rahane
Batters	Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Cameron Green, Tejasvi Singh, Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Rahul Tripathi
All Rounders	Sunil Narine,  Ramandeep Singh, Rovman Powell, Anukul Roy, Rachin Ravindra, Daksh Kamra, Sarthak Ranjan
Bowlers	Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, Matheesha Pathirana, Mustafizur Rahman, Akash Deep, Prashant Solanki, Kartik Tyagi

KKR Home Ground Details

Feature	Details
Official Name	Eden Gardens
Common Nicknames	“The Mecca of Indian Cricket”, “Cricket’s Answer to the Colosseum”
Location	B. B. D. Bagh, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Home Team	Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Bengal Cricket Team, Indian National Cricket Team
Establishment	1864. It is the oldest cricket stadium in India.
Seating Capacity	Approximately 68,000
Ends	High Court End, Pavilion End
Pitch Characteristics	Generally considered an excellent batting surface that offers true bounce. As the match progresses, it tends to slow down and provide significant assistance to spinners, making it a well-balanced pitch for T20 cricket.
KKR’s Home Advantage	The “Sea of Purple” – the incredibly loud, passionate, and massive home crowd creates one of the most electric and intimidating atmospheres in the entire IPL for visiting teams.
Boundary Dimensions	The boundaries are fairly standard, with straight boundaries around 70 meters and square boundaries ranging from 65 to 68 meters.
IPL Record (Highest)	261/6 – Scored by KKR against Punjab Kings in 2024.
Notable Feature	The iconic Eden Bell, which is rung by a distinguished guest to signal the start of a day’s play for Test and ODI matches.
Historic Milestone	Hosted the finals of the 1987 Cricket World Cup and the 2016 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. It was also the venue for VVS Laxman’s legendary innings of 281 against Australia in 2001.
Other Significance	It is the largest cricket stadium in India by seating capacity and is renowned globally for its heritage and the incredible passion of its spectators.

List of KKR Captains 2008 to 2025

Captains	Span	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	NR	W/L	W%	L%
Ajinkya Rahane	2025	13	5	7	0	1	0.71	38.46	53.84
Shreyas Iyer	2022–2024	29	17	11	0	1	1.54	58.62	37.93
Nitish Rana	2023	14	6	8	0	0	0.75	42.85	57.14
Joseph Gerard Morgan	2020–2021	24	11	12	1	0	0.91	45.83	50.00
Dinesh Karthik	2018–2020	37	19	17	1	0	1.11	51.35	45.94
Gautam Gambhir	2011–2017	122	69	51	1	1	1.35	56.55	41.80
Jacques Henry	2011	2	1	1	0	0	1.00	50.00	50.00
Sourav Ganguly	2008–2010	27	13	14	0	0	0.92	48.14	51.85
Brendon McCullum	2009	13	3	9	1	0	0.33	23.07	69.23

KKR Performance over the years

Year	Result	Top Batsman	Runs	Top Bowler	Wickets	Win %
2025	8th	Ajinkya Rahane	390	Varun Chakravarthy	17	35.17%
2024	Champions	Sunil Narine	488	Varun Chakravarthy	21	78.57%
2023	7th	Rinku Singh	474	Varun Chakravarthy	20	42.85%
2022	7th	Shreyas Iyer	401	Andre Russell	17	42.9%
2021	Runners-Up	Venkatesh Iyer	370	Varun Chakravarthy	18	52.9%
2020	5th	Shubman Gill	440	Varun Chakravarthy	17	50.00%
2019	5th	Andre Russell	510	Andre Russell	11	42.85%
2018	3rd	Dinesh Karthik	498	Kuldeep Yadav	17	56.30%
2017	3rd	Gautam Gambhir	498	Chris Woakes	17	57.14%
2016	4th	Gautam Gambhir	501	Andre Russell	15	53.33%
2015	5th	Robin Uthappa	364	Andre Russell	14	53.84%
2014	Winners	Robin Uthappa	660	Sunil Narine	21	68.75%
2013	6th	Gautam Gambhir	406	Sunil Narine	22	37.50%
2012	Winners	Gautam Gambhir	590	Sunil Narine	24	70.58%
2011	4th	Jacques Kallis	424	Yusuf Pathan	13	53.33%
2010	6th	Sourav Ganguly	493	Ashok Dinda	9	50%
2009	8th	Brad Hodge	365	Ishant Sharma	11	23.07%
2008	6th	Sourav Ganguly	349	Umar Gul	12	46.16%

                                               

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