The 2019 season was the 12th season for the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders. They were one of the eight teams that competed in the 2019 IPL. They finished the season in the fifth place. The team was captained by Dinesh Karthik and coached by Jacques Henry Kallis with Simon Matthew Katich as assistant coach, Omkar Salvia as bowling coach and Abhishek Mohan Nair as mentor
Background Player retention and auction
In November 2018, the Knight Riders announced their list of retained players for the 2019 season. The list included Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shubman Gill, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Shivam Mavi, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Kamlesh Nagarkoti.
On 18 December 2018, the IPL player auction was held in which the Knight Riders signed up nine more players viz., Carlos Brathwaite, Lockie Ferguson, Joe Denly, Harry Gurney, Nikhil Naik, Shrikant Mundhe, Prithvi Raj Yarra and Anrich Nortje.
Team analysis ESPNcricinfos Sreshth Shah predicted the Knight Riders to qualify for the playoffs and listed the team's strengths to be its "power-hitters", Dinesh Karthik's role as captain and finisher, and its spin bowlers' effectiveness. He also pointed out that the team has an "inexperienced pace attack" which had taken the fewest wickets and had the worst economy rate among all teams in the previous season. Hindustan Times wrote in its team preview that "anything less than play-offs will be seen as a failure" for the Knight Riders while also saying that winning the title in 2019 "may just be a step too far" for the team. Firstpost called Andre Russell the "fulcrum of the side" and acknowledged the "variety and depth in the squad." Suggesting the strength of the team to be its spin bowling department, News18 wrote "The variety the likes of Kuldeep Yadav, Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla bring to the playing XI is unmatchable."
Squad Players with international caps are listed in bold. No. Name Nationality Birth date Batting style Bowling style Year signed Salary Notes Batsmen6 Joe Denly Right-handed Right-arm leg break 2019 Overseas27 Nitish Rana Left-handed Right-arm off break 2018 35 Rinku Singh Left-handed Right-arm off break 2018 37 Robin Uthappa Right-handed Right-arm medium 2018 Vice-captain; Occasional wicket-keeper50 Chris Lynn Right-handed Slow left-arm orthodox 2018 Overseas77 Shubman Gill Right-handed Right-arm off break 2018 All-rounders12 Andre Russell Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium 2018 Overseas26 Carlos Brathwaite Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium 2019 Overseas74 Sunil Narine Left-handed Right-arm off break 2018 Overseas Kamlesh Nagarkoti Right-handed Right-arm fast 2018 Shrikant Mundhe Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast 2019 Wicket-keepers7 Nikhil Naik Right-handed Right-arm off break 2019 19 Dinesh Karthik Right-handed Right-arm off break 2018 Captain Bowlers11 Harry Gurney Right-handed Left-arm fast-medium 2019 Overseas21 Piyush Chawla Left-handed Right-arm leg break googly 2018 23 Kuldeep Yadav Left-handed Slow left-arm wrist-spin 2018 25 Prithvi Raj Yarra Left-handed Left-arm medium-fast 2019 32 Shivam Mavi Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium 2018 43 Prasidh Krishna Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium 2018 63 Sandeep Warrier Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast 2019 69 Lockie Ferguson Right-handed Right-arm fast 2019 Overseas 94 K. C. Cariappa Right-handed Right-arm leg break 2019 Anrich Nortje Right-handed Right-arm fast 2019 Overseas Matt Kelly Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium 2019 Replacement signing Overseas
Coaching and support staff
Head coach – Jacques Kallis Assistant coach – Simon Katich Bowling coach – Omkar Salvi Spin bowling coach - Carl Crowe Team manager - Wayne Bentley Strength and conditioning coach – Adrian le Roux Physiotherapist – Andrew Leipus
Ref
Match results League stage
Statistics Most runs No. Name Match Inns NO Runs HS Ave. BF SR 100s 50s 0 4s 6s1 Andre Russell 14 13 4 510 80* 56.66 249 204.81 0 4 1 31 522 Chris Lynn 13 13 0 405 82 31.15 290 133.12 0 4 2 41 223 Nitish Rana 14 11 2 344 85* 34.40 235 146.38 0 3 1 27 214 Shubman Gill 14 13 4 296 76 32.88 238 124.36 0 3 0 21 105 Robin Uthappa 12 11 3 282 67* 31.33 245 115.10 0 1 1 28 10 Source:Cricinfo
Most wickets No. Name Match Inns Overs Maidens Runs Wickets BBI Ave. Econ. SR 4W 5W1 Andre Russell 14 12 28.0 0 287 11 2/21 26.09 9.51 16.4 0 02 Sunil Narine 12 12 44.2 1 347 10 2/19 34.70 7.82 26.6 0 03 Piyush Chawla 13 13 44.3 0 399 10 3/20 39.90 8.96 26.7 0 04 Harry Gurney 8 4 27.0 0 238 7 2/25 34.00 8.81 23.1 0 05 Kuldeep Yadav 9 9 33.0 0 286 4 2/41 71.50 8.66 49.5 0 0 Source:'Cricinfo
Awards and achievements No. Date Player Opponent Result Contribution Ref. 1 Andre Russell Sunrisers Hyderabad Won By 6 wickets 49 runs off 19 balls 2 Andre Russell Kings XI Punjab Won By 28 runs 48 runs off 17 balls 3 Andre Russell Royal Challengers Bangalore Won By 5 Wickets 48* runs off 13 balls 4 Harry Gurney Rajasthan Royals Won By 8 Wickets 2/25 in 4 overs 5 Andre Russell Mumbai Indians Won By 34 runs80* runs in 40 balls 6 Shubman Gill Kings XI Punjab Won By 7 Wickets65 runs in 49 balls
References