Kolkata Knight Riders

Infobox cricket team
county=Kolkata Knight Riders


coach= flagicon|AUS John Buchanan
assistant coach= Mathew Mott
captain= flagicon|IND Sourav Ganguly
founded=2008
colors = |colors= Black and Gold Cr-IPL/Flags|kolk
ground=Eden Gardens
owner= Shahrukh Khan, Juhi Chawla & Jai Mehta
capacity= 90,000
ceo=Joy Bhattacharya
website= [http://www.kolkataknightriders.com Kolkata Knight Riders]

Kolkata Knight Riders (also referred to as KKR) is the franchise representing Kolkata in the Indian Premier League, a Twenty20 cricket tournament. The team is led by Sourav Ganguly, who is also the Icon Player for the team, and coached by John Buchanan. The official theme of the team is "Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo Re" (We will do it, Fight for it, Win it) and the official colors are black and gold.

Franchise History

Kolkata Knight Riders is one of the franchise of the eight team taking part in the Indian Premier League. It was bought by Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment in partnership with Juhi Chawla Mehta and her husband, Jai Mehta.

2008 IPL Season

Performance

The Knight Riders had a good beginning to the season by winning their first two matches against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Deccan Chargers. Knight Riders' opening batsman Brendon McCullum scored 158 runs in the first match, which is a record for the highest runs ever scored by a batsman in a Twenty-20 match.cite web|url=http://content-www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/346913.html |work=Cricinfo.com|title=McCullum's record 158 leads rout|accessdate=2008-05-23] However, the team started experiencing failures and lost consecutive four matches. The team managed to stage a comeback of sorts by winning next three matches based on strong performances by Sourav and Shoaib Akhtar. But their performance dipped again and lost next three matches, which included their match against Mumbai Indians, in which they were bowled out for 67 runs, the lowest score by a team in IPL.cite web|title=Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL, Mumbai|url=http://content-www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/team/335971.html|work=Cricinfo.com|accessdate=2008-05-23] When their match against Delhi Daredevils was washed out due to rain, they lost any chance of making it to the semifinals.cite web|title=All over for Knight Riders in 2008 - Post Kotla washout, even a win in last match won’t be enough|work=The Telegraph|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080523/jsp/sports/story_9309469.jsp|accessdate=2008-05-23] . The Knight Riders ended their season on a winning note by defeating Kings XI Punjab on their home ground.

Controversy

There were reports of a rift between Shahrukh Khan and Sourav Ganguly over various issues such as team composition, Sourav's choice of batting first in the game against Chennai Super Kings, entertainment tax being imposed for matches played at Eden Gardens (Shahrukh reportedly wanted Sourav to speak to the West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya about it, which was refused by Sourav).cite web|url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/PoliticsNation/Rift_between_SRK_and_Ganguly/articleshow/3058154.cms|title=All is not well between SRK and Ganguly|work=The Economic Times|accessdate=2008-05-23] It was also reported that Shahrukh Khan bestowed more powers to John Buchanan including giving him full powers to select the team for the following year which was not liked by Sourav. However, the team management issued a statement that the reports of a possible rift are untrue.cite web|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/holnus/007200805211821.htm|work=The Hindu|title=No rift between Shah Rukh and Ganguly: Knight Riders|accessdate=2008-05-23] Shahrukh Khan was further barred by the International Cricket Council Anti-Corruption Unit from entering the dressing room of the team when matches were in progress. Shahrukh Khan then issued a statement that he would be boycotting the remaining matches of the IPL till the code of conduct was clarified by the IPL authorities.cite web|url=http://www.ibnlive.com/news/srk-says-he-will-boycott-remaining-matches-of-ipl/65781-5.html|work=Ibnlive.com|title=SRK says he will boycott remaining matches of IPL|accessdate=2008-05-23]

Financial

Financially, the Knight Riders were easily the most successful franchise in the IPL, achieving a profit of Rs. 13 crore. [ [http://businesstoday.digitaltoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5206&issueid=28 Business Today - Beta - India's leading business magazine ] ]

Livery

The logo of the team consists of a blazing golden viking helmet against a black background with the name of the team "Kolkata Knight Riders" written in gold. The main theme of the team "Korbo, Lorbo, Jitbo Re" (We will do it, Fight for it, Win it) has been created by Vishal-Shekhar duo.cite web|url=http://in.news.yahoo.com/ani/20080311/r_t_ani_sp/tsp-king-khan-launches-kolkata-knight-ri-61d3b88.html|title=King Khan launches Kolkata Knight Riders|publisher=Yahoo|date=2008-03-11|accessdate=2008-03-11] A "Knight Rider" album with several singers and music composers including Usha Uthup and Bappi Lahiri will also be created.cite web|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=0b3340dc-5dc1-4c70-8db9-6beba270e283&&IsCricket=true&Headline=Kolkata+Knightriders+launched+amidst+gloom|title=Kolkata Knightriders launched amidst gloom|publisher=Hindustan Times|date=2008-03-11|accessdate=2008-03-11] The tag line of the team is "All the King's Men". The team's official colours are black and gold. Black stands for the courage of Maa Kali and gold stands for the spirit of winning. The jersey was created by Bollywood fashion designer Manish Malhotra. The team also has a mascot named "Hoog Lee", who is a lazy Royal Bengal Tiger and loves to eat burgers. The name is a pun on the river Hooghly. The name Knight Riders has been chosen keeping in view the kids and the youth.

Players

Sourav Ganguly, the former captain of the Indian cricket team is the icon player and led the Kolkata franchise. The team also includes the Australian captain Ricky Ponting, allrounder Chris Gayle, David Hussey, Tatenda Taibu and wicket keeper batsman Brendon McCullum. The main bowlers are Shoaib Akhtar, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Dinda, Ajit Agarkar and Murali Karthik. Team also includes Umar Gul, Mohammad Hafeez and Salman Butt. Australian batsman Brad Hodge and Sri Lankan bowler, Ajantha Mendis, are recent additions to the squad. [cite web|url=http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ipl/content/squad/338088.html|title=Kolkata Knight Riders Squad|publisher=Cricinfo|date=2008-04-26|accessdate=2008-04-28] [cite web|url=http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ipl/content/story/347643.html|title=Hodge joins IPL for five weeks|publisher=Cricinfo|date=2008-04-26|accessdate=2008-04-28]

Current squad

Batsmen

Administration and Coaching staff

;Front Office
*Owners - Shahrukh Khan, Juhi Chawla & Jai Mehta (Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.)
*CEO - Joy Bhattacharya [cite news |title=Shoaib sued by PCB and sacked by IPL|url=http://sport.guardian.co.uk/cricket/story/0,,2270678,00.html |publisher=The Guardian|date=2008-04-03 |accessdate=2008-04-10 ]
*President - TBA;Coaches
*Head Coach - John Buchanan
*Assistant Head Coach - Matthew Mott [cite news |title=Mott heads to Kolkata as Buchanan's IPL assistant |url=http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ipl/content/story/343978.html |publisher=Cricifo |date=2008-03-26 |accessdate=2006-03-26 ]
*Physiotherapist - Andrew Leipuscite web|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080221/jsp/sports/story_8929726.jsp|title=Leipus, Le Roux for Team Calcutta|publisher=The Telegraph|date=2008-02-21|accessdate=2008-02-21]
*Physical Trainer - Adrian Le Roux, Michael Buchanan [cite web|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080408/jsp/sports/story_9108451.jsp|title=Buchanan son to join support staff|publisher=The Telegraph|date=2008-04-08|accessdate=2008-04-08]

Fixtures and Results

Kolkata Knight Riders 2008 SeasonWebSlice-begin|id=1|title=Kolkata Knight Riders IPL FixturesWebSlice-end

External links

* [http://www.kolkataknightriders.com/ Official Homepage]

References