After victory in the fifth edition of the IPL fanatix looks at the chances of KKR making it successive title victories.
After winning the 2012 IPL trophy Kolkata Knight Riders are looking to emulate the achievement of Chennai Super Kings by winning back-to-back titles.
Chennai finished top of the pile in both 2010 and 2011 before the Knight Riders took their crown away.
However, Kolkata appear to be having a few more problems within their squad in 2013 than they did in their successful campaign 12 months ago.
Captain and top run-scorer Gautam Gambhir is struggling with his form with the bat and was dropped from the Indian national squad for their recent visit of Australia.
Gambhir was the second highest run-maker in the 2012 IPL, behind Chris Gayle, and scored six of Kolkata’s 11 half-centuries in the tournament.
The Knight Riders will be hoping the Indian batsman is back to his best when they start their season against Delhi Daredevils on Wednesday.
Also South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis has been struggling with his fitness of late and has not played competitive cricket since the Proteas’ final Test match against Pakistan in February.
Since being KKR’s second highest run-scorer last year Kallis has struggled in the shortest form of the game, managing only 18 runs in the Champions League and then scoring just 24 in three innings at the Twenty20 World Cup.
There is further bad news for the squad as New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum will miss the start of the season with a hamstring injury and Bangladeshi all-rounder, Shakib Al Hasan, will not be available until May 12 as his country are touring Zimbabwe.
Kolkata do have key bowlers Sunil Narine and Lakshmipathy Balaji ready and raring to go for the new IPL campaign however.
Likewise, possibly the most expensive bench-warmer in IPL history at £230,000, England’s Eoin Morgan, is also available to fill in for any absentees with his match-saving batting.
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