Kolkata Knight Riders are one of three sides that have won the Indian Premier League trophy more than once, but they come into IPL 2021 having last won the tournament in 2014.
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When the Kolkata Knight Riders won their second Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy in three years in 2014, the franchise seemed set to establish themselves as one of the standard bearers of the tournament. The early years of the league were dominated by the Chennai Super Kings, who won two tournaments and made it to four finals in the first five years. However, KKR had done the unthinkable in 2012 when they beat the Yellow Army in their own backyard to claim their maiden title. And while 2013 was disappointing, they bounced back well in 2014 and became only the second two-time IPL champs.
They remain one of three sides to have won the tournament more than once, but the lack of success for a side that is passionately supported and, by all accounts, fairly well-run on the administrative side, rankles.
But where exactly did it all go wrong for the Shah Rukh Khan-owned team, who remain one of the most valuable sides in the league despite a recent lack of success?
Sport in general is cyclical in nature; success doesn’t last forever and even the greatest of teams must be rebuilt. KKR’s greatest success came under the stewardship of Gautam Gambhir, who led the side from 2011-2017.
However, when the Delhi-born batsman requested to be released into the auction pool ahead of the 2018 season, the franchise knew it would be time for a rebuild.
Team management chose to hedge their bets on young players who would serve the side for years to come and thus big money was spent on U-19 internationals Shubman Gill, Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti.
But while the strategy of investing in youth is always a commendable one, it brings with it the risk of inconsistent performances and that has plagued the side since 2018.
Perhaps the best example on how to integrate young players into the side can be seen in Mumbai Indians, who have been the team to beat over the past five years.
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The side are known to extensively scout young talent and then put them in a position to succeed by playing them in roles that not only suit them best but also allow them to express themselves.
By contrast, KKR’s approach has been to put young players in high-pressure situations and see how they deal with it. The approach that can work wonders in some cases but also has every chance of backfiring.
It’s also worth noting that in order for youngsters to succeed, the older players in the side have to pull their weight and that hasn’t always been the case for KKR in recent times.
The overall player woes, however, is only one side of the story.
Replacing the most successful captain in the history of the side thus far was always going to be a task. And it was one that KKR were woefully unprepared for.
Dinesh Karthik was signed by the side in the IPL 2018 auction and named captain ahead of the tournament. His first year at the helm saw the side secure a play-off place but fail to make the final.
However, it was 2019 when things took a turn for the worse. Karthik’s own form suffered to a degree but the year was dominated by talks of rifts within the dressing room.
Things became worse when star all-rounder Andre Russell publicly aired his frustrations and seemed to be at odds with the decisions of the captain and, by extension, team management.
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Thus, off-field distractions and the failure to make the play-offs for the first time since 2015 meant there were question marks over Karthik’s leadership going into the 2020 season.
The fact that KKR signed England white-ball skipper Eoin Morgan in the 2020 player auction was also seen as a sign that Karthik’s time at the helm was over.
KKR publicly stood behind Karthik to begin with, but poor form at the start of the 2020 season saw Morgan take the reins midway and it is the Ireland-born batsman who will lead the side in 2021 as well.
Recent years of the tournament has seen the race to finish in the Top 4 become tighter than usual. This is mainly due to the fact that as time has gone on, franchises have wisened up to the challenges of building a team.
Since their title win in 2016, Sunrisers Hyderabad have been a consistent presence in the Top 4, finishing in the play-off spots every time.
Delhi Capitals, who endured a six-year run of finishing outside the Top 4 from 2013-18, made their maiden final appearance last year.
Even perennial underachievers Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have perplexingly made the finals thrice without lifting the trophy yet also occasionally struggled to make the play-offs, managed a fourth-place finish last year.
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That the IPL would be an even playing field was always a given due to the salary caps which every franchise must adhere to but it also means that being a side that can just finish in the Top 4 regularly can be a challenge.
KKR made the top 4 six out of eight times from 2011-18, yet have now gone two straight years without making the play-offs and will face an uphill battle to ensure that streak doesn’t extend into a third year.
In the short term, the goal will be to assemble a side that can challenge for a Top 4 spot. But for a city that is used to success, the long-term goal of being a title-winning side again will need to come sooner rather than later.
KKR squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Tim Seifert, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Sandeep Warrier, Prasidh Krishna, Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy, Shakib Al Hasan, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Harbhajan Singh, Karun Nair, Ben Cutting, Venkatesh Iyer, Pawan Negi.
