IPL 2020: A complete SWOT Analysis of all eight teams

Kolkata Knight Riders

Squad-Dinesh Kartik(c), Tom Banton, Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, Chris Green, Kuldeep Yadav, Siddhesh Lad, Eoin Morgan, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Nikhil Naik, Sunil Narine, Prasidh Krishna, Nitish Rana, Andre Russel, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Manimaran Siddharth, Rinku Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy

Strengths

• The West Indian duo- The big West Indian Andre Russel and the magician Sunil Narine have to be the biggest strength for KKR. Arguably the best T20 player currently, Russel has been an absolute force for KKR especially in the last 2 seasons scoring in excess of 800 runs and hitting an unbelievable 83 sixes! He has turned matches around for them from hopeless situations and this time around too Kolkata will be hoping he does the same. If his fitness permits, Russel can be very handy with the ball as well. Narine. on the other hand, has been their strike spinner for almost a decade now. While his bowling skills have wavered over the last few years, his new found ability to be a frighteningly good pinch hitter at the top has paid rich dividends for KKR. Both the West Indians, one controlling the top and the other the lower end of the batting will be Knight Rider’s biggest assets this time around too.

• Destructive and Reliable Middle Order-While most of the teams are top heavy and have a weak middle order, KKR have an experienced and very one. If Rahul Tripathi opens the batting with Sunil Narine, KKR are most likely going to have Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russel from 4-7. It doesn’t get better than that. The addition of Morgan significantly bolsters their middle order ,which already had the other 3 last year, as he has the game to grind it out as well as go berserk from ball one. He will give DK the captain the flexibility to move around Andre Russell in the middle order as Morgan can play the finisher’s role well too. It is a dream middle-order and will surely go a long way in helping KKR post mammoth totals as well as pull off huge chases.

Weakness

• Lack of Quality Pacers- This might not be justified for a few considering KKR has Pat Cummins, one of the best bowlers currently and who went at a hefty price of over 15 cr. But there are two main problems. There isn’t any reliable pacer apart from Cummins, who also while being extraordinary in Tests, hasn’t played much of T20s recently. KKR have a number of young pacers like Prasidh Krishna, Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Sandeep Warrier but among them Krishna is the most experienced IPL player with just 13 games while Nagarkotti is yet to play a single game in the IPL. In the overseas department they have Lockie Ferguson and Harry Gurney, who could perhaps be effective with his variations, but it is unlikely that he will find a place in the team at the expense of Cummins. While KKR will be hoping bulk of the work is done by the spinners, lack of experienced pacers might hurt them at some stage of the tournament.

Opportunity

• Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi turned a number of heads when in the U19 World Cup in 2018, both of them bowled in excess of 145km/h. Since then their careers have been marred with injuries, but this could be the season for them to make a mark.

Threat

• Kuldeep Yadav’s form in T20 hasn’t been great. He had a horrid last season, and is going to be their main spinner along with Narine. His indifferrent form could be a problem for KKR.

Potential Surprises-Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Rahul Tripathi