Does KKR have it in them to lift the IPL trophy this time?

Kolkata: The IPL 2021 is going to be held in India this time. It was held in Dubai last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic in the month of September.

The Shah Rukh Khan owned Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) franchise had won this tournament twice i.e., once in 2012 and 2014. The real question here is do they have it in them this time to lift the trophy for the third time? The main objective for this franchise for this season would be to maintain consistency in order to create the long lost magic, which was there during the time of Gautam Gambhir's captaincy.

The franchise struggled for stability in the areas such as finding a good opening combination, middle order or a better finisher. There was a change in the captaincy in the middle of the tournament as the former captain Dinesh Karthik wanted to focus on his "batting", so the world-cup winning captain Eoin Morgan stepped in, but even that could not help them much in the last season.

One of the major reasons KKR failed to reach playoffs for the second time was because of their two Caribbean stars who failed to bring any glory to the team as Andre Russel got injured half way through the season and the West-Indian bowler Sunil Narine has been been under constant scanner over the last couple of years due to his suspicious bowling actions.

We will now do an in-depth analysis of the side, who will begin this season by taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad in their opening match in Chennai on April 11.

Let's talk about the strength that the team has first. With Eoin Morgan being the full time KKR captain, the team has got one of the sharpest brain behind this format of the game.

Eoin being the left-handed batsmen scored 418 runs in the 14 innings, with the average of 41.80 and he also hit the most sixes i.e., 24, for the team, especially in the death overs.

The franchise has made some smart decisions, to their team in the mini auction, which was held in February. They retained the core of their core of the side, i.e., 17 players- even after having a disappointing season.

They brought back Bangladeshi star all rounder Shakib-al-Hasan and the 2016 final man of the match Ben Cutting. They also have the much needed backups for Narine and Russel.

They also have a backup for the Australian superstar Pat Cummins and Lockie Fergusson in the form of Prasidh Krishna, who made an impressive debut by taking 4/54 in the first one day international (ODI) in the recently concluded India-England series.

Now lets analyze the weaknesses of the team. The franchise has struggled a lot in the spin department. With the left arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav not being in his top form and he just took one wicket in the five matches that he played during the last season.

Sunil Narine, who was one of the major architect for the victorious seasons in 2012 and 2014, was warned of suspicious action and due to which he missed playing four matches in the last season. He also missed playing the final match of CPL for Trinbago Knight Riders as he was found with suspicious action.

On the other hand, Varun Chakravarthy, a Tamilian architect-turned cricketer, came as a backup for Narine and went on to finish with the most wicket i.e., 17 for the team. However his fitness has remained in the spotlight for quite some time now.

Now, let's talk about the opportunities the team has to win in this season. With Dinesh Karthik stepping down as the captain of the team, he will try to come back to his form in this season.

Then the duo of Shakib-al-Hasan and veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh will look to make the most of the opportunities that will come on their way in slow tracks in Delhi and Chennai.

The team has two newcomers this season in the form of Venkatesh Iyer and Vaibhav Arora. Iyer, who is from Madhya Pradesh, made an impressive start in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, by scoring 198 runs in 146 balls against Punjab. Vaibhav Arora, who is from Himachal Pradesh, is a medium pacer, took a hattrick on his debut against Maharashtra in the same tournament.

Now let's analyze the threats that the team might face in the upcoming season. The team will need a good start from the opener Shubman Gill, especially in the powerplay overs. He took a lot of deliveries in most of the matches in the last season, which created a lot of pressure on the middle order.

Morgan and company would ensure that they have a winning combination this time, which they lacked in they lacked in the last season and are quite desperate to make it to the finals of the season this time.