Here’s the preview of three time IPL title winning team ‘Kolkata Knight Riders’

Flamboyant opener Phil Salt, the unsung hero of KKR campaigns over the years Nitish Rana and pace spearhead Mitchell Starc, whose sensational spell in the last year’s final left the explosive Sunrisers Hyderabad in shambles, will be missed for sure.

Hyderabad: The new leader, Ajinkya Rahane, a far more confident spinner, Varun Chakravarthy, fresh from his exploits in playing a big role in India winning the ICC Champions Trophy, should be in focus as defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders look to retain the title in the IPL.

Flamboyant opener Phil Salt, the unsung hero of KKR campaigns over the years Nitish Rana and pace spearhead Mitchell Starc, whose sensational spell in last year’s final left the explosive Sunrisers Hyderabad in shambles, will be missed for sure.

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But again, the presence of South Africans Quinton de Kock and Anrich Nortje should be good enough to raise the hopes of the KKR camp.

Rinku Singh and Venkatesh Iyer, the second costliest player in this IPL, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, youngster Angkrish Raghuvanshi and all-rounder Rovman Powell with their flair to go for the big strokes straight away should be the focal point in batting too. It would be interesting to see how Sunil Narine, who is more of a batting-allrounder now, and the big-hitting Andre Russel defy age and still come up with match-winning performances.

The bowling attack will be predominantly led by pacers Harshit Rana, who made a significant impact with India seniors in recent times, Vaibhav Arora and the spin department handled by Varun Chakravarthy, who is having a dream run.

A typical West Indian flair in the team’s approach cannot be ruled out with former West Indies all-rounder and Chennai Super Kings superstar Dwayne Bravo taking over from Gautam Gambhir who mentored the team to victory last season.

The think-tank does have choices to look at if the big guns fail to rise to the occasion as the team comprises the likes of experienced Manish Pandey, Spencer Johnson, Luvnith Sisodia, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Chetan Sakariya.

For the record, KKR won their third title last season and should look to keep winning again.