Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will have some selection dilemmas in IPL 2025 and what route they take could decide their fate.
Kolkata Knight Riders clinched their third title in the Indian Premier League last year with one of the most dominant seasons. But the mega auction came at the wrong time for them and they had to disband their champion squad.
KKR have handed over the captaincy reins to the veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane as they look to defend their crown in IPL 2025. They have assembled a side capable of doing that, comprising the strong core they retained. KKR will have some selection dilemmas in the upcoming season and what route they take could decide their fate.
Ahead of the IPL 2025, we try to come up with the best KKR playing XI and Impact Player options.
Sunil Narine won his third ‘Most Valuable Player’ of the season award in IPL 2024 thanks to his all-round performance. He had an unbelievable campaign with the bat, scoring 488 runs at an average of 34.85 and strike rate of 181. Narine and Phil Salt’s exploits at the top of the order was one of the major reasons behind their success.
His form, however, has declined drastically. Since June 2024, Narine has averaged only 9.05 with the bat across 20 innings. He opened in 13 of these matches and managed only 96 runs. This gives KKR a headache but if the pitches in IPL 2025 are as flat as they were last year, they should start with Narine at the top.
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The Knight Riders will have to take a massive call that could decide their IPL 2025 fortunes. They have one spot open for an overseas fast bowler, with Spencer Johnson and Anrich Nortje in contention. KKR spent INR 6.50 crore for Nortje and acquired Johnson for INR 2.80 crore.
Nortje missed the recently concluded Champions Trophy 2025 for South Africa with an injury but has recovered. He arrived at the KKR camp and has started bowling. At his best, Nortje can terrorise the batters but has the tendency to be very expensive.
Johnson, on the other hand, is one of the most promising pacers in the world. He has the pace, can swing the ball up front and bowl in death overs. The left-arm seamer also offers variety to the KKR bowling attack. The only question is – will they make the call?
Most of the KKR line-up looks set except a couple of spots. Another selection dilemma for KKR could be between Vaibhav Arora and Umran Malik. On one hand, they have Malik, one of the fastest bowlers in the world. On the other, they have Arora, who was a part of their title-winning campaign. He played 10 matches and snared 11 wickets at 9.20 rpo.
Malik has a higher upside but his strengths don’t quite fit in with this KKR set-up. He can be very effective in the middle overs as an enforcer but KKR already have Harshit Rana in that role. Arora can swing the new ball and mostly operates in the powerplay.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi is a promising young batter and was a part of the KKR side last year. He scored 163 runs from seven innings at an average of 23 and strike rate of 155. He will be the first-choice Impact Player substitute. Raghuvanshi strengthens the batting line-up and can be used as a floater.
Anukul Roy can be an excellent Impact Player option on pitches that offer good assistance for spinners. KKR have Narine and Varun Chakravarthy – two of the best spinners in the league. Roy, the left-arm orthodox spinner – gives them another option.
The leg-break bowler Mayank Markande can also be a good Impact Player substitute on spin-friendly pitches. Markande offers a different skill set to their other spin options.
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