KKR miss Gautam Gambhir's aura, Shreyas Iyer's midas touch; surrender meekly
Kolkata Knight Riders' Sunil Narine with captain Ajinkya Rahane and Harshit Rana. (PTI Photo)
One of the biggest questions going into IPL 2025 was whether defending champions KKR could cope without their talisman
Gautam Gambhir
. The ex-India batter had resigned from his role as KKR's mentor to take on the responsibility of being the national team's head coach, throwing fans in a state of panic.
The Kolkata-based franchise had earlier struggled massively following Gambhir's exit as captain, reaching the playoffs only twice.
However, the ex-India batter's return as KKR's mentor in IPL 2024 transformed the franchise completely, converting them from an under-confident unit to one capable of beating the best. Unheralded players like Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora stepped up as the Kolkata-based franchise won the IPL for the first time since the 2014 season.
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Gambhir's departure was further followed by the exit of KKR's IPL 2024 winning captain
Shreyas Iyer
, due to a disagreement over the retention sum. Losing such key figures in a short duration can be a stern challenge for the best which KKR soon realised. A paucity of proven candidates for the captain's role forced the franchise to attempt a left-field move by handing Ajinkya Rahane the captaincy.
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KKR further assigned ex-West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo the massive responsibility of filling in Gambhir's shoes.
Who's that IPL player?
However, things certainly did not go in favour of the franchise despite Rahane attempting to encourage an aggressive approach. One of the biggest factors behind KKR's success in IPL 2024 was the focus on performing as a unit. However, the same simply went missing in IPL 2025. KKR recorded three wins in their opening seven matches, failing to step up even during the business end.
Two consecutive wins against DC and RR sparked hopes of a turnaround, which never transpired as the Rahane-led side ended their campaign with a 110-run loss against SRH.
One of the biggest factors behind KKR's dominance in IPL 2024 was the form of Sunil Narine, who smashed 488 runs at a strike rate of 180.74, chipping in with 17 wickets. However, Narine's performance suffered a sharp decline as he barely managed to score 246 runs, accounting for 12 dismissals.
KKR also badly missed the presence of opener Phil Salt, who'd scored 435 runs at a strike rate of 182.01 in IPL 2024, with the decision to pick Quinton de Kock failing miserably.
Ajinkya Rahane reflects on KKR's inconsistent IPL 2025, backs under-fire Venkatesh Iyer
Even the likes of Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh and
Venkatesh Iyer
had a forgettable campaign. Iyer was signed for Rs 23.75 crore in the auction, but finished with just 142 runs in 11 matches while Rinku accumulated 206 runs in 13 games. Ramandeep, who'd emerged as a reliable campaigner in IPL 2024, barely scored 47 runs in 11 matches.
Russell's reputation as a match-winner further suffered a hit after accumulating 167 runs in 13 games, with a duck in the final clash summing up his season.
Fans have also questioned head coach Chandrakant Pandit's inability to implement his philosophy in Gambhir's absence. While Vidarbha managed to pull off a win in the bleakest of situations under Pandit, the same certainly didn't reflect this season.
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KKR's fortunes with the ball seemed reliant on Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy, who was the joint top-wicket taker with 17 dismissals.
The franchise failed to find a suitable replacement for Australian pacer Mitchell Starc, with the likes of Vaibhav Arora and Harshit Rana proving quite expensive, recording economy rates of 10.11 and 10.18 respectively. Arora and Rana's lack of penetration with vital dismissals especially raised eyebrows, despite finishing their campaigns with 17 and 15 wickets respectively.
"There was a thrill factor that I miss.
Gambhir has an aura in the way he carries the team forward," revealed Rana, showcasing the India head coach's impact. KKR will definitely need to rethink their approach and may well rue their decision not to retain Shreyas, considering his success at PBKS, who've reached the playoffs.
"KKR have a lot of pieces to figure out. The fact that they've shelled out as much as they have for Venkatesh and not used him properly gives you a lot to think about. A lot of realigning needs to happen. There's been a lot of confusion," said JioStar expert Robin Uthappa, summing up the concerns plaguing the dethroned defending champions.
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