The Kolkata Knight Riders, also known as KKR, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Kolkata, West Bengal, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is owned by actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla, and her spouse Jay Mehta. Their home ground is Eden Gardens.
The franchise, which has gained immense popularity due to its association with celebrity owners, qualified for the IPL playoffs for the first time in 2011. They became the IPL champions in 2012, by defeating Chennai Super Kings in the final. They repeated the feat in 2014, defeating Kings XI Punjab. In 2024, they won the title for the third time by beating Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Knight Riders hold the record for the longest winning streak by any IPL team (14).
The team's all-time leading run-scorer is Gautam Gambhir, while their leading wicket-taker is Sunil Narine. The official motto of the team is Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo (Perform, Fight, Win) and the official colours are purple and gold.
Franchise history
In 2007, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) created the cricket tournament Indian Premier League, based on the Twenty20 format of the game. Eight teams participated in the inaugural tournament held in April – June 2008. The teams representing the eight different cities of India were put up on auction in Mumbai on 20 February 2008. The team representing Kolkata was eventually bought by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's company Red Chillies Entertainment in partnership with actress Juhi Chawla and her husband Jay Mehta for a price of $75.09 million, equal to approximately ₹2.98 billion at that time. Sourav Ganguly, a native of West Bengal and former captain of the Indian national team, was named the Icon player for the team. The name of the team is a reference to the popular 1980s American television series Knight Rider.
Brand Valuation According to Forbes in 2022, Kolkata Knight Riders were the third most valuable team in the IPL behind MI and CSK with a valuation of $1.1 billion.
Livery Initially, when the Kolkata Knight Riders were first introduced in 2008, the logo of the team consisted of a blazing golden Viking helmet against a black background with the name of the team written in gold next to it. However, the black background was changed to purple in the third season. It was in 2012 that the current logo, which has a blazing purple Corinthian helmet trimmed with gold, with Kolkata Knight Riders written within a shield, was introduced.
The tagline of the team was "All the King's Men" during the first four seasons. However, in the fifth it was replaced by "New Dawn, New Knights". The team's official colours were black and gold during the first two seasons. At the time, Khan said that "golden symbolizes spirit of life and black presents the Goddess Kali." It was later changed to purple and gold during the third season and was kept so. The jersey was created by Bollywood fashion designer Manish Malhotra.
The main theme of the team, Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo Re (we will act, fight, and win!), was scored by Vishal–Shekhar duo. A Knight Riders album featuring several singers and music composers, including Usha Uthup and Bappi Lahiri, was also created.
Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors Multinational communications corporation Nokia was the official founding sponsor of the Kolkata Knight Riders and remained their principal sponsor until 2014. In 2015, Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Gionee took over as their principal sponsor and signed a three-year deal worth . In 2018, Nokia returned as the main sponsor of the Knight Riders, signing a two-year deal. Star Plus, Reebok, HDIL, Kit Kat, SB Nation, Doublemint, SAP AG, Asian Paints, Red FM 93.5, Seiko, U.S. Polo Assn., Uber, Philips, Dish TV, Sansui Electric, Ola Cabs, Exide, SRMB Steel, TTK Prestige, Acko General Insurance, JSW Paints, Manipal Hospitals, FanCode, Listerine, Tecno Mobile, Radio Nasha, Lux Cozi, Ibibo, Sprite, Pepsi, Bira 91, Royal Stag, Pocari Sweat, Sony Music India, Greenply, MoneyGram, Unacademy, Colgate and Radio One have all formerly been either co-sponsors or partners.
In 2020 and 2021, MPL became their principal sponsor. In 2022, the principal sponsor of the Kolkata Knight Riders was the Esports app WinZO Sports. For the 2023 season, their main sponsor was the fantasy sports app MyFab11. In 2024 and 2025, their main shirt sponsors were Dream11.
As of 2026, they have partnerships with BKT Tyres, Thums Up, Big Ant Studios, RR Kabel, Amul, The Telegraph, Fever FM, Google Gemini, Google AI Mode, Kingfisher and Battlegrounds Mobile India among others. They also have co-sponsorship deals with Jio, Google Pay, Vikram Solar and Amaron.
Reebok was the official kit supplier for the Knight Riders from 2008 to 2013. For 2014 and 2015, U.S. Polo Assn. manufactured kits for the team. In 2021, Indian apparel brand Wrogn Active became the official merchandising partner of the Knight Riders.
YearKit manufacturerShirt sponsor (front)Shirt sponsor (back)2008ReebokNokiaHDIL 2009StarPlus2010XXX Energy Drink2011Matrix201220132014U.S. Polo Assn.Sansui2015Gionee2016rowspan=5 2017Jio2018Nokia20192020MPL2021WrognUnacademy2022WinZO2023MyFab11BKT2024Dream112025SIX5SIX2026Vida
Rivalries The Knight Riders have historically been a successful franchise in the IPL. This success has led them to have many rivalries with other teams.
Mumbai Indians Both teams play in major markets, with Mumbai Indians based in Mumbai and Kolkata Knight Riders based in Kolkata. Mumbai Indians is the most successful IPL franchise with five championships. However, until Mumbai's third championship, both teams were tied with two championships each. In the first two seasons of the IPL, Mumbai swept Kolkata in all four games. It wasn't until the 2010 IPL season that Kolkata won against Mumbai. Both teams have been captained by Indian cricket legends at one point (Mumbai was captained by Sachin Tendulkar and Kolkata was captained by Sourav Ganguly). This rivalry has often played out in Mumbai's favour, as they have won 22 games compared to Kolkata's seven wins. They have faced each other twice in the playoffs.
In 2011, both teams played against each other in the Eliminator round, marking their first playoff appearances. This was the first time that the two teams met in the playoffs. Mumbai won the match by four wickets and advanced to the next round, ultimately losing to the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
In 2012, both teams were chasing a playoff spot in the tournament. The game started poorly for KKR as their batting team struggled to score runs. However, KKR picked up the pace and ended the innings with 140/7. Mumbai, initially in a strong position at 60/2 with more than 10 overs left, unexpectedly collapsed, finishing their innings at 108 all out. Sunil Narine was named Man of the Match with 4 wickets, and KKR eliminated MI from the playoffs. KKR won its first championship that season. Knight Riders' owner Shah Rukh Khan was handed a 5-year ban at Wankhede Stadium, the home ground of Mumbai Indians. He was accused of walking on the field post-match and abusing the security guards. In 2015, the ban was lifted.
Mumbai and Kolkata faced off in the opening match of the 2015 season. Mumbai batted first and scored 168/3. This charge was led by captain Rohit Sharma with his 98 runs. Kolkata captain Gautam Gambhir scored 57 runs, leading his team to victory. Suryakumar Yadav's 46 runs were crucial to KKR's chase.
In 2017, Mumbai earned its 100th T20 win against KKR. Later that season, both teams faced each other in the playoffs in the Qualifier 2 round. KKR had a poor batting performance, posting 107 runs and being all out. Mumbai was able to capitalise and won the match. Mumbai went on to the finals to beat Rising Pune Supergiant to claim their third championship.
From 2015 to 2018, Mumbai Indians held an eight-game winning streak against the Kolkata Knight Riders. That streak was broken on 29 April 2019, when KKR posted a total of 232 runs and won by 34 runs. KKR's Andre Russell scored 80 runs, and MI's Hardik Pandya scored 91 runs. KKR holds the record for highest total for an IPL match played at Eden Gardens. This victory was KKR's 100th T20 win. Mumbai have won all three games between them since then.
The rivalry saw a significant shift in the 2022 season, as Kolkata achieved a "season double" over Mumbai for the first time. In their first meeting, Pat Cummins equaled the then-record for the fastest IPL half-century (14 balls), leading KKR to a 5-wicket win. In the return fixture, KKR won by 52 runs despite a maiden five-wicket haul from MI's Jasprit Bumrah.
In 2023, Mumbai regained ground at the Wankhede Stadium, winning by 5 wickets despite a century from Venkatesh Iyer.
The 2024 season marked another dominant year for Kolkata, who again swept the season series 2–0. On 3 May 2024, KKR defeated Mumbai by 24 runs at the Wankhede Stadium—their first victory at the venue in 12 years. Later, KKR won the return fixture at Eden Gardens by 18 runs, making them the first team to qualify for the 2024 playoffs, a season where they eventually claimed their third title.
Royal Challengers Bangalore 2008 The rivalry between the Knight Riders and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru is the oldest in the Indian Premier League history. The inaugural match of the inaugural edition was played between both teams, in which KKR clinched a huge victory by a margin of 140 runs. Brendon McCullum was awarded the first-ever man-of-the-match award of the tournament, due to his blistering 158* (73), dominating the whole RCB bowling unit.
2009 In the 2009 edition, the Royal Challengers won in both encounters against the Knight Riders. During their second meet, which was also the tournament's 100th match, Ross Taylor played a notable innings, scoring 81* (33), contributing significantly to RCB's victory by six wickets.
2012 In the 2012 edition, KKR was at the lower half of the IPL table and needed to win the crucial match against RCB. KKR won the toss and chose to bat first. Skipper Gautam Gambhir led from the front with 93 (51). In reply, RCB lost wickets at regular intervals, as only Chris Gayle managed to put up a fight with a score of 86 (58). The next time they met, Gambhir again was the thorn in RCB's team as he top scored for KKR at a tough pitch, taking KKR to a competitive total of 165. RCB in reply made 129, as Lakshmipathy Balaji ripped through their line-up with a 4/18 in 4 overs.
In the 2015 IPL edition, RCB and KKR took part in a match reduced due to rain. It was reduced to a 10-over match. RCB won the toss and elected to field. For KKR, Andre Russell was the top scorer as he scored 45 off just 17 balls. He took them to a score of 111/4 in just 10 overs. Mitchell Starc took one wicket for 15 runs in 2 overs. In reply, RCB were at 0–48 at 3.4 overs before Brad Hogg got Chris Gayle out. After that, RCB stuttered and started to collapse as they were reduced to 3–81 in 7.2 overs. When Virat Kohli got out to Andre Russell, the match looked to be over for RCB. However, Mandeep Singh scored 45 off just 18 balls, hitting 3 sixes and 4 fours.
In the 2017 IPL edition, Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore again faced each other twice. In the first match between them, RCB got KKR out for a score of 131 after KKR had made a strong start of 0–48 in 3.3 overs. However, KKR dismissed RCB for 49, the lowest team score in the history of IPL. Nathan Coulter Nile, Colin de Grandhomme and Chris Woakes got three wickets each. In the next match, Sunil Narine scored what was then the fastest fifty in IPL (50 off 15 balls – which is now the second-fastest). KKR made the highest score made in powerplay in any IPL match, and easily chased down the target offered by RCB.