Kolkata Knight Riders Team Guide
The Kolkata Knight Riders are a franchised cricket team that plays in the IPL.
Kolkata Knight Riders Background
The Kolkata Knight Riders team was founded in 2008, and owned by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan. The team is based in the city of Kolkata, West Bengal. Hometown hero Sourav Ganguly was announced as the team’s first captain, Australian coach John Buchanan would lead the team off the field. The team won the IPL on two occasions, those being in in 2012 and 2014.
Where Do The Kolkata Knight Riders Play?
The Kolkata Knight Riders play at one of India’s most iconic cricket venues; Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The stadium boasts a capacity of around 70,000 and is one of the world’s classic sporting venues.
Kolkata Knight Riders Players
Gautam Gambhir captained the Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles and scored over 3,000 runs for the team during his career. Other prominent Indian national cricket team players to wear the purple jersey include Ishant Sharma and Shubnam Gill.
Some huge overseas stars have played for the Kolkata Knight Riders as well such as New Zealandâs mercurial Brendon McCullum, one the finest ever all rounders in South Africaâs Jacques Kallis, West Indies cricket team duo Chris Gayle and Andre Russell, England cricket team World Cup winning skipper Eoin Morgan and Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins.
Memorable Matches For The Kolkata Knight Riders
The IPL launched in 2008 and it started with a bang thanks to the Kolkata Knight Riders. In the very first game New Zealand national cricket team player Brendon McCullum smashed a remarkable 158 off just 73 balls hitting 10 fours and 13 sixes, flaying the Royal Challengers Bangalore to all parts of M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, in some cases well outside of the stadium! The Kolkata Knight Riders won the game by huge margin, but McCullumâs fireworks meant everyone was initially talking about the IPL and that it was very much here to stay.
The Kolkata Knight Riders won their first IPL title back in 2012 against Chennai Super Kings, in the opposition’s back yard. It was a thrilling high scoring affair that went down to the final over. CSK batted first on a good pitch and made a solid start without getting away from KKR. Murali Vijay made 42 and âMr Cricketâ Micheal Hussey made 54. It was Suresh Raina who propelled them to a good score before he was dismissed on the final ball of the innings for an outstanding 73 off 38 balls including 5 sixes. It was one of Kolkata Knight Ridersâs lesser known names who starred in the reply. Manvinder Bisla hit a brilliant 89 off 48 balls opening the innings after the early dismissal of Gautam Gambhir. He was ably assisted by the great South Africa national cricket team player Jacques Kallis who added 69. Both were dismissed before getting the Kolkata Knight Riders over the line though. A slight wobble ensued as Laxmi Shukla and Yusuf Pathan fell cheaply so it came down to needing 9 from the final over. Manoj Tiwary sliced Dwanye Bravo for two fours to spark great scenes as the IPL trophy came to Kolkata for the first time on their fifth attempt with two balls to spare.
