Kolkata Knight Riders not in a mood to settle for less this season of IPL

The Knight Riders' new Captain Rahane emphasises team-first mentality

HYDERABAD: With a new Captain Ajinkya Rahane at the helm, mentor Dwayne Bravo, head coach Chandrakant Pandit and vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer scheming the strategies for the IPL commencing from March 22, defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will be aiming for back-to-back titles. “It’s an honour for me to lead this wonderful franchise. I’m really thankful and grateful to the management for giving me this opportunity,” said Rahane. “For me, it is always about keeping things simple… We will obviously give our best this season,” he added.

Rahane emphasised a team-first mentality and said he had always played wherever the team wanted him to, and team-thinking always came first.

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For his part, Dwayne Bravo said it would be disrespectful of him to try to change some of the good things from the last season.

“It’s good to have a boss like Shah Rukh who is definitely really invested in the game… That energy and that vibe, I’m going to try to bring that here as well,” Bravo said.

Venkatesh Iyer, who commanded a significant price at the auction, was excited about working with Bravo.  “Bravo has been the most successful T20 player in history, so he brings a lot of experience to the table. Nothing can beat experience. He’s played so many games; he’s won so many games for the West Indies and the franchises that he’s played for,” he said. “The pressure of the price tag does exist. You can’t ignore it altogether, but when the TATA IPL starts, it really doesn’t matter. You’re a part of a playing XI, a part of a team that is going out there to win,” Venkatesh said.

Head coach Chandrakant Pandit, who has worked with Rahane previously, said every match would be different and that they had been preparing since the Mumbai camp. “We are going to play as hard as possible,” he said.

KKR has made four appearances in the TATA IPL final, winning the championship thrice (2012, 2014, 2024). They finished runners-up in the 2021 season, staging one of the most remarkable comebacks in the tournament’s history. TKR’s Men’s Team has won the CPL championship 4 times in 10 years since the Knight Riders took over the franchise.

They are the most successful team in the Caribbean and hold a unique feat of having won the trophy in 2020 without losing a single game in the whole tournament.

TKR Women, the Knight Riders’ first ever Women’s Team, were champions of the inaugural WCPL in 2022.