Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have announced Shreyas Iyer as their captain for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2024. Iyer went to miss the whole season of IPL 2023 due to in injury and was out of cricketing action for six to seven months. Now he is fully fit and all set to lead KKR in IPL 2024. Iyer has also impressed everyone with his performance in the 2023 ODI World Cup, accumulating 530 runs in 11 matches at an average of 66.25 and a strike rate of 113.24, including two centuries and three half-centuries. Meanwhile, Nitish Rana. who took over the captaincy role for KKR in Iyer’s absence in IPL 2023, will serve as the vice-captain of the franchise for the upcoming season. Apart from the, former skipper Gautam Gambhir who led the franchise to the title in 2012 and 2014 is back in the KKR family for the upcoming season as a mentor.
Shreyas Iyer was first appointed as skipper of KKR ahead of IPL 2022, KKR didn’t had memorable outing in that season as they finished seventh in the points table with six wins from matches. Iyer previously used to play for the Delhi Capitals (DC) and led the franchise to their first-ever IPL final in 2020. However, DC missed the chance to win their maiden title as they lost to Mumbai Indians in the title clash.
Quick Update 👇#IPL2024 @VenkyMysore @ShreyasIyer15 @NitishRana_27 pic.twitter.com/JRBJ5aEHRO
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) December 14, 2023
KKR Captains throughout the years
Kolkata Knight Riders have been one of the most successful teams in the IPL with two titles. Their have been several legendary players who have been of the franchise throughout the years and have played a leadership role in the team. Let’s have a look at KKR captains in every season.
Player | Span | Matches | Won | Lost | Tied | Draw | NR | W/L | %W | %L |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SC Ganguly | 2008-2010 | 27 | 13 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.92 | 48.14 | 51.85 |
BB McCullum | 2009-2009 | 13 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.33 | 23.07 | 69.23 |
G Gambhir | 2011-2017 | 122 | 69 | 51 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.35 | 56.55 | 41.80 |
JH Kallis | 2011-2011 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 | 50.00 | 50.00 |
KD Karthik | 2018-2020 | 37 | 19 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.11 | 51.35 | 45.94 |
EJG Morgan | 2020-2021 | 24 | 11 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.91 | 45.83 | 50.00 |
SS Iyer | 2022-2022 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.75 | 42.85 | 57.14 |
N Rana | 2023-2023 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.75 | 42.85 | 57.14 |
Former Indian Captain Sourav Ganguly was the captain of KKR in the initials of the tournament from 2008 to 2010. Under his stint KKR won 14 out of 27 games. However, in 2009, former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum led the team in 13 matches out of which they come out victorious on three occasions.
From 2011, Gautam Gambhir took over the charge as the captain of the KKR. He became the only captain to led the franchise to the title in 2012 and 2014 and also had a winning percentage of 56.55 with 69 wins from 122 games that makes him the most successful captain for KKR till date. He was released by the franchise ahead of IPL 2018 and it was Dinesh Karthik who replaced him as the skipper.
Karthik was the captain of KKR in IPL 2018 and 2019 and led the team to 19 victories out of 37 matches under his stint. After him, England’s World Cup winning captain Eoin Morgan took over the captaincy role ahead of IPL 2020. Morgan led KKR to their third IPL final in 2021.