Kolkata Knight Riders will be out to shine in their armor in the upcoming 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Champions KKR, who have won the illustrious trophy on three counts, could be backed as one of the favorites. They retained six players ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction to give us a primary look at their main playing XI. At the IPL 2025 auction, KKR bought back most of their players, barring 4-5 important names. It’s a group that is settled, and the owners didn’t do anything fancy to make wholesome changes. Rather, they have stuck to a winning team.
KKR failed to get back skipper Shreyas Iyer, star pacer Mitchell Starc, and opener Phil Salt despite bidding for the trio. They also didn’t show interest in Nitish Rana, who spent several seasons with the Eastern giants.
The mega auction in Jeddah saw the Knights break the banks to sign back Venkatesh Iyer. Once KKR missed out on Shreyas, they perhaps identified Venkatesh as the player who could lead them. He came in for a whopping INR 23.75 crore. It will be a crucial season for the Madhya Pradesh player to showcase his credentials as a potential leader. Venkatesh did well for the Knights last season, especially during the Qualifier 1 and final.
KKR have its core set of players, and the addition of seasoned figures such as Quinton de Kock and Anrich Nortje makes it a solid side that can be threatening for teams. KKR will be counting on consistent performances, as seen last year. The bowling is what needs to strike out, and if they match the standards set last season, a promising campaign will then await them.
With the IPL 2025 auction over, here we present the strengths, weaknesses, and takeaways from the KKR squad.
KKR’s squad for IPL 2025 season
Retained players ahead of the auction: Rinku Singh (Rs. 13 crore), Varun Chakaravarthy (Rs. 12 crore), Sunil Narine (Rs. 12 crore), Andre Russell (Rs. 12 crore), Harshit Rana (Rs. 4 crore), Ramandeep Singh (Rs. 4 crore).
Players bought: Venkatesh Iyer (Rs. 23.75 crore), Quinton de Kock (Rs. 3.60 crore), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Rs. 2 crore), Anrich Nortje (Rs. 6.50 crore), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (Rs. 3 crore), Vaibhav Arora (Rs. 1.80 crore), Mayank Markande (Rs. 30 lakh), Rovman Powell (Rs. 1.50 crore), Manish Pandey (Rs. 75 lakh), Spencer Johnson (Rs. 2.80 crore), Luvnith Sisodia (Rs. 30 lakh), Ajinkya Rahane (Rs. 1.50 lakh), Anukul Roy (Rs. 40 lakh), Moeen Ali (Rs. 2 crore), Umran Malik (Rs. 75 lakh).
Three major strengths of KKR
1) KKR’s bowling is sturdy and has a nice blend. Before the auction, they already had around 14-16 overs fixed from their retained players. Spinners Narine and Varun hand you 8 solid overs. Varun is one of the IPL’s best spinners. He took 20 wickets in IPL 2023 and picked another 21 last season to be KKR’s most successful bowler. Narine had a crunch IPL 2024 season, taking a handful of 17 scalps. Both Varun and Narine’s mystery spin would aid KKR.
Indian pacer Harshit was the find of the tournament last season. He claimed 19 scalps the previous season, and since then, his fortunes have changed as he got the cut in India’s Test side. He could be the leader of the pace attack. Russell is another veteran pedigree. He picked 19 scalps last season at 15.63. He owns 115 wickets in the IPL.
2) With the addition of key bowlers, KKR’s base is well-covered and has more character than last season. In spin, they got back the reliable Anukul Roy, who could be an impact player, especially on spin-friendly tracks. Mayank Markande seems a better fit than Suyash Sharma, who was released. Markande, with his leg spin, brings variety. He claimed 8 scalps from 7 games last season for SRH. The season before that, he managed 12 scalps for Mumbai. KKR also got an all-rounder in Mooen Ali, who did a reasonable job at Chennai Super Kings over the past few seasons. Mooen has played 363 T20 matches and owns over 240 wickets and over 7000 runs.
In pace, KKR may have missed out on Starc, but they got Anrich Nortje, who has plenty of pace and depth on offer. He was the third-highest wicket-taker in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. In the IPL, he owns 60 scalps from 46 games. Nortje is a natural replacement for Starc. Australia’s Spencer Johnson, who was in top form in the recently concluded T20Is against Pakistan, brings sheer pace and variations. He is tall and can extract bounce as well. KKR got back Vaibhav Arora, a key figure of the team over the last three seasons. He played 10 games last season and claimed 11 scalps. He could be a pivotal figure alongside Rana this season. KKR also roped in Umran Malik for a steal price and the fast bowler seems a solid acquisition who can lend top support from the bench. He didn’t get the desired backing at SRH after impressing in IPL 2022 with 22 wickets from 14 games.
3) KKR’s batting is well-settled. Narine will open alongside de Kock, who has a lot of experience up his sleeves. Both players will have the license to kill something Narine and Salt did last season. Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who has been a valuable asset for KKR across the previous 2 campaigns, can be a natural backup to de Kock. Gurbaz is a big match player, as seen last season when called up in the latter stages. Talented youngster Angriksh Raguvanshi has plenty of promise, as witnessed previous season. In Russell, Rinku, and Ramandeep, KKR have deadly finishers. A job done well for KKR when retaining. KKR also got Roman Powell, who can be the ideal back up to Russell. KKR have a top-notch bench with Manish Pandey bought back and former employee Ajinkya Rahane joining. Rahane was superb for CSK and can vie for a place alongside Raghuvanshi. Pandey brings value as an impact player. There is the solidity of Moeen as well.
KKR’s major weakness
KKR missed a trick by not going the distance for Shreyas, who went to PBKS for INR 26.75 crore. After missing out on Shreyas, KKR left midway in the bid for KL Rahul, who joined DC for 14 crore. With two captaincy options gone begging, KKR decided to spend heavily on Venkatesh. 23.75 crore on Venkatesh, who hasn’t led in the IPL or at the state level, is a tricky territory. Venkatesh is the potential skipper of KKR, as he has been with the side for several seasons now, and another reason is his price tag. One feels KKR could have utilized the Venkatesh money on Rahul and, with a chunk left, gone for someone like Starc, who was tremendous in Qualifier 1 and the IPL 2024 final.
Venkatesh will now also need to be the force at number 4, replacing Shreyas in this batting order. Can he make the impact Shreyas had as a leader and a batter? We will need to wait and watch.
Who can be KKR’s Impact Players?
With the Impact Player rule, teams can name five substitutes and use one of them when needed. If four foreign players are already named in the XI, the impact player can only be an Indian. So KKR have work to do here and get the right call. Anukul Roy, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande.
Probable KKR XI
Quinton de Kock (wk), Sunil Narine, Angriksh Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer (C), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy, Anrich Nortje.
Players to watch out for
Sunil Narine: He was the MVP player last season, scoring 488 runs and taking 17 scalps. Notably, he struck at 180-plus. 281 of his runs came in the first six overs. He struck over 170. So, Narine’s impact at the top could help KKR start well. He also took 14 wickets in overs 7-16 last season to be the cream asset in the middle overs. His ER of 6.15 during this phase was solid.
IPL 2025 season: KKR will finish in the top 4
KKR need to execute what they did so well last season. With the majority of the same personnel on offer, KKR are well stocked and credit to the management for being smart. Chandrakant Pandit has worked closely with Venkatesh, and if the latter can showcase his credentials as a leader, this could be a trump card situation. If KKR are to finish in the top four and take it from there, Venkatesh will also need to deliver with the bat.