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The Kolkata Knight Riders are one of only three franchises to have lifted the IPL title more than once. After failing to finish in the top 4 during the first three seasons, KKR revamped their squad and gave the team's reins to Gautam Gambhir.
The Indian opener played the skipper's role brilliantly as he took the Kolkata Knight Riders to the championship in 2012 and 2014. Over the years, the Kolkata-based franchise have given a platform to many current Indian stars like Suryakumar Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, and Kuldeep Yadav to showcase their talent to the world.
Quite a few players felt at home while playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL. Here's a look at five cricketers who have represented multiple IPL teams but performed their best when playing for KKR.
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5. Gautam Gambhir was instrumental in the success of the Kolkata Knight Riders
As mentioned above, Gautam Gambhir replaced Sourav Ganguly as the Kolkata Knight Riders captain in 2011. Although local fans were disappointed with this development, Gambhir turned around the fortunes of the team.
The Knight Riders finished in the top 4 for the first time in 2011. Next year, they became champions under Gambhir's leadership, and two years later, they won the title for the second time.
Gambhir played for the Delhi Capitals and the Kolkata Knight Riders in his career. He led KKR from the front by scoring runs consistently with the willow.
In 108 innings for Kolkata, Gambhir amassed 3,035 runs at an average of 31.61, with a strike rate of 124.28. He recorded 27 half-centuries for the team. His strike rate and batting average were relatively lower when Gambhir played for Delhi.
4. Lakshmipathy Balaji
Lakshmipathy Balaji is the bowling coach of the Chennai Super Kings at the moment. The Indian fast bowler represented three franchises in his career: the Chennai Super Kings, the Kolkata Knight Riders, and the Punjab Kings.
While Balaji picked up a hat-trick and won IPL 2010 with CSK, his best performance came when he played for the Knight Riders. In 35 IPL matches for KKR, Balaji scalped 33 wickets, including a four-wicket haul.
His economy rate was more than 8.6 runs per over when he played for Chennai and Punjab. However, while bowling for KKR, Balaji conceded runs at an economy rate of 7.39 only. In fact, he gave away only 5.39 runs per over in eight games of IPL 2012, a season which KKR ended as champions.
3. Laxmi Ratan Shukla
Laxmi Ratan Shukla is a former Indian all-rounder who represented the nation in three ODI matches. Incidentally, Shukla also played for three IPL teams in his career, namely the Kolkata Knight Riders, the Delhi Capitals, and the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
His best performances in the league came when he played for his home franchise, KKR. Shukla scored 374 runs in 31 innings at a strike rate of 119.87.
Shukla claimed his only Man-of-the-Match award in IPL by scoring 48 runs for Kolkata in a match against the Rajasthan Royals on a challenging surface at Kingsmead. No other batter scored more than 22 runs in that IPL 2009 fixture.
Shukla also picked up 14 wickets for the Knight Riders, with his best figures being 3/6. When he moved to Delhi, his batting strike rate dipped to 81.58, and his bowling strike rate went up from 19.29 to 56. The Sunrisers did not give him a game during his last IPL season.
2. Iqbal Abdulla
Iqbal Abdulla joined the Kolkata Knight Riders in the inaugural season and stayed with the franchise till IPL 2013. He came into the limelight during the 2011 IPL, where he took the Rising-Star-of-the-Season award home.
In total, Abdulla played 33 matches for the Kolkata Knight Riders, accounting for 27 wickets at a bowling average of 24.96. His economy rate while bowling for KKR was only 6.59 runs per over.
The Rajasthan Royals and the Royal Challengers Bangalore used his services during his subsequent seasons. However, Abdulla's economy rate rose to 8.5 while playing for the two franchises. His bowling average for RCB was 34.83.
1. Sourav Ganguly was the leading run-scorer for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2010
Sourav Ganguly never played a T20I match for the Indian cricket team. However, Dada played five IPL seasons in his career. He began his journey with the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2008.
Ganguly was part of the Kolkata-based franchise for three seasons, where he aggregated 1,031 runs at a batting average of 28.64. The left-handed batsman recorded all of his seven IPL half-centuries while donning the Kolkata Knight Riders' jersey.He alsoe picked up eight wickets at an economy rate of 7.44 for the Knight Riders.
Although Ganguly was the highest run-getter for the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2010,with 493 runs in 14 innings, the team management released him from the squad.
Later, he played for the Pune Warriors. Ganguly could only score 318 runs at a strike rate of 96.36 across two seasons for Pune. Even his economy rate increased to 9.5 runs per over.
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