Ever since their first IPL title in 2012 season, the Kolkata Knight Riders have maintained good standards. The other teams started taking them seriously and prior to that, this team had nothing to show.
Even the 2013 season wasn’t as per their expectations, but they came back strong last year that too after a mediocre league performance, and, then, went on to win the IPL for the second time.
Not even half way down the line, KKR are again showing great potential this year. For KKR, winning is everything and with wins against some of the top team like the Mumbai Indians, the Delhi Daredevils and the Kings XI Punjab.
The Gautam Gambhir led side has already shown tremendous potential, but their real test will come when they face the in-form teams like the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals. Before they reach that stage, KKR next challenge will be against struggling Sunrisers Hyderabad.
With Gambhir scoring consistently at the top, their middle-order may lack a bit of experience, but their bowling compensates for all the weaklings. Spearheaded by Morne Morkel and Umesh Yadav, the pace department is one of the most potent attacks in the league. Even the spin line-up is equally impressive and the entire team has managed to put together a combination.
This is one area, where the Sunrisers have struggled. They tried out different combinations without much of a success. Their main strength lies in their opening combination of captain David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan. If one of them can’t get to a big score, this team runs out of steam. They may have a very decent bowling attack, but that isn’t enough to win you matches.
Ultimately, your team has to put up a good show with the bat to create a platform for the bowlers to put pressure. This is precisely the reason why they have only one win from four matches. So, this KKR match in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday will be a good opportunity for the Sunrisers to rise up to the challenge and start believing in their abilities.
