Kolkata Knight Riders
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. 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.
The side'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 and the official colours are purple and gold.
Franchise history
In 2007, the Board of Control for Cricket in India 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.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, 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.
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 sides have been captained by Indian cricket legends at one point. 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 side 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 side 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 sides 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.
In the 2022 and 2024 seasons, Kolkata beat Mumbai in all the matches between them.
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*, 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*, 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. In reply, RCB lost wickets at regular intervals, as only Chris Gayle managed to put up a fight with a score of 86. The next time they met, Gambhir again was the thorn in RCB's side 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. KKR made the highest score made in powerplay in any IPL match, and easily chased down the target offered by RCB.
The 2019 IPL saw Virat Kohli scoring 84 off 49 and AB de Villiers scoring 63 off 32, taking RCB to a total of 205/3. KKR had a strong start, scoring 28/0 in 1.3 overs, before losing wickets at regular intervals and having their run rate reduced. They were 139/4 in 15.5 overs. However, Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell brought back the chase under control. Karthik got out after scoring 19 off 15, leaving KKR at 153/5 in 17 overs. Andre Russell, however, took KKR over the line as he scored 48 off 13, hitting Mohammed Siraj for 23 runs in one over.
In the next match, RCB struck back as Virat Kohli made his 5th IPL century, scoring 100 runs in 58 balls only. Moeen Ali scored 66 runs in only 28 balls as RCB scored 213 runs. For KKR, Nitish Rana scored 85 off 46 and Andre Russell scored 65 off 25, taking the game down to the wire. However, RCB won the match by 10 runs, with Virat Kohli being Man of the Match.
In 2020, RCB won both the matches played between them.
In the 2021 IPL, RCB won the 1st match between them by 38 runs in Chennai. However, in the reverse fixtures held in the UAE, KKR bowled RCB all out for 92 runs. In response, KKR chased the target with 9 wickets and with 10 overs to spare. The two teams then met again in the eliminator, which KKR won thanks to the heroics of Sunil Narine with both the bat and the ball, taking crucial wickets of the likes of Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers and then going on to smash 3 consecutive sixes off Dan Christian helping KKR win by 4 wickets.
In 2022, RCB won the sole match played between them.
In 2023, KKR won both matches played between the teams. In the first match in Kolkata, KKR were struggling at 89/5 in 12 overs, with Rahmanullah Gurbaz having scored 57 runs when the 5th wicket fell. However, late heroics from Shardul Thakur and Rinku Singh helped KKR to score 204/7. In response, RCB started quickly thanks to the opening partnership of Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis. However, the KKR's spin duo, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy, along with debutant Suyash Sharma, picked 9 wickets combined as RCB collapsed for 123 runs. In the next match in Bangalore, KKR scored 200 runs. Here too, RCB had a quick start thanks to Virat and Faf du Plessis. However, they soon lost momentum and KKR eventually won the match by 21 runs as RCB ended up scoring just 179 runs in response.
In 2024 IPL, in the first match that took place in Bangalore, RCB scored 182/6 thanks to Virat Kohli fighting 83 not out of 59 balls. In response KKR chased the target with 3.1 overs to spare. At Kolkata in the reverse fixture, KKR batted first with opener Phil Salt scoring an aggressive 48 and a half century from Captain Shreyas Iyer along with a late middle order surge from Andre Russell, Rinku Singh and Ramandeep Singh as KKR scored 222/6 in their 20 overs. RCB on the other hand had a good start from Kohli and Du Plessis, however they got out in quick successions. Then, Will Jacks and Rajat Patidar each scored half centuries as RCB were cruising towards the target at one point. Then, Andre Russell took the wickets of both the batsmen in the same over and RCB once again started losing wickets in quick succession. In the final over, with Karn Sharma on strike and Mitchell Starc bowling the final over, RCB needed 21 runs off the over. Karn Sharma scored 3 sixes in 4 balls as RCB were closer to winning the match. However, in the next ball, Sharma got out as RCB needed 3 runs off 1 ball and there was a run out in the last ball as KKR won the match by 1 run.