Calcata champions champion Knight Riders (KKR) found themselves in an unknown territory this season. After eight games they managed only three victories and sat in the seventh place on the table points. When there are only six games of the group, their chances of qualifying for the playoffs hang under the thread.
So what happened to the ruling champions? Here is a closer look at the key factors that are behind the underestimation power of the KKR in IPL 2025:
Inconsistent opening pair
One of the largest strengths of KKR last season was an explosive introductory partnership between Phil Salt and Sunil Narine. This year, however, this formula did not work. Quinton de Kock, brought to replace salt, restlessly on Tandem with Narine.
In eight matches KRK did not solve a single 50-plus opening stand. For comparison, in the same stage last season Salt and Narine had three 50 or more partnerships, including the stand of the century, with an average opening partnership for more than 50 years. Lack of timely momentum put pressure on the middle order right from the beginning.
An insoluble ranking of the bats
KRKR constant to play with the order of batting was added only to their misery. While their first three largely remained consistent, there was little clarity or continuity in the rest of the assembly.
An example was the match against Gujarat Titans, where Angkrish Raghuvanki-Right KRK The second best dough this season-was sent in No. 9, despite previously batting in 4 or 5. This approach to music chairs was disrupted by the rhythm of the team and influenced individual performances.
Missights Mission
She Kraza placed her belief in Trio Rink Singh, Andre Russell and Ramandeep Singh to close games, but the yields were disappointing. Of the three, only Rink this season exceeded 100. Russell managed only 55 runs out of eight games and Ramandeep scored only 30.
Rinka, who faced only 113 balls last year for the whole season, found himself in more demanding situations, but could not add. Russell, the once feared Finišer, looked from the species, hardly connected with the ball. Ramandeep was also trying to settle, with fluctuating roles and dubious selection of shooting that made him no kindness.
Distraction over the home playground
Problems KKR at home spilled beyond the show. The Eden Gardens playground was a dispute during the campaign. Several members of the team expressed concern about the play surface and escalated the situation on the public gap between the franchise and the curator of the playground.
The tension reached the peak when Captain Ajinkya Rahane was asked for the playground and he refused to comment, suggesting that any statement will cause “Bawal” (stir). Obviously, noise outside the field around their home terrain has become an undesirable distraction for the team.
Auction table Incorrect steps
Problems of KKR may have started long before the start of the season – in the auction table. In a surprising move, the franchise spent a significant piece of her handbag on the Venkates Iyer, which meant that they were not able to re -sign Phil Salt, the key architect of their campaign 2024.
The budget limitation also meant that the team could not bring a premium overseas fast pitch. In retrospect, the single player overvaluation led to insufficient balance in the group – both in terms of firepower and experience.
What lies before us
With the six games to go, the KRK needs a dramatic turn to keep its hopes for play -off alive. But if they do not find rapid repairs of their introductory affliction, they stabilize their launch ranking and do not get their big names to shoot again, their defense of the title could only go before the knockout phase.
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Published:
Kingshuk Kusari
Published on:
22 April 2025
