Kolkata Knight Riders: A rebuild reliant on availability and combinations

A rebuild in the works, but the pieces keep falling.

It helps to split the question in two: what has changed since last season, and what has changed since the auction.

From last season, Andre Russell is no longer around to finish games. How much Cameron Green—the most expensive overseas pick ever—can fill that gap could decide how far KKR go.

Since the auction, injuries have had a big say. Matheesha Pathirana and Mustafizur Rahman, their second and third-most expensive buys, are both unavailable; Pathirana for the first few matches and Mustafizur for the entire season. Harshit Rana and Akash Deep are out for the season as well. The pace cupboard looks thin before a ball has been bowled.

It has been a sharp fall for KKR, from champions in 2024 to finishing eighth last year. Moving on from their title-winning captain also seemed to take their grip on tight games. The clearest example came against a Shreyas Iyer-led side, when they needed 112 to top the group but collapsed from 62/2 to 95 all out, handing PBKS the lowest total ever defended in the IPL. Similar stumbles showed in close games against LSG and CSK.

Their season showed in the numbers. KKR hit the fewest sixes, had the lowest average and the second-lowest strike rate. They scored quickly in the Powerplay but slowed once the field spread. The middle order (Nos. 3-8) struck at 144.6, the second-worst among all teams.

Potential XI: Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Cameron Green, Rinku Singh (vc), Ramandeep Singh, Tejaswi Dahiya (wk), Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik/Kartik Tyagi/Anukul Roy, Varun Chakaravarthy, Matheesha Pathirana

Injury/Availability Watch: Matheesha Pathirana will need to clear fitness tests. With Harshit Rana, Akash Deep and Mustafizur unavailable, Blessing Muzarabani and Saurabh Dubey have joined as replacements.

What they do better than most: Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine continued to deliver. KKR's spin unit took 36 wickets in 13 matches at an average of 24.91 and an economy of 7.8, among the most effective attacks in the tournament.

A player that changes their ceiling: The opener addresses a clear gap from last season, when KKR had no 50-plus opening stand and an average of 22.33. Finn Allen's 33-ball hundred in the T20 World Cup semifinal showed how quickly he can change an innings. If he comes off, it gives KKR a start they rarely had last year.

Even with thin fast-bowling stocks, the spinners can carry this side. The bigger question is how the batting fits together.

There is no clear top-order template. Finn Allen and Tim Seifert cannot both play, with Narine, Pathirana (when fit) and Green taking up three overseas slots. Narine may or may not open. If he does not, the top order is too right-hand heavy. Then there is Ajinkya Rahane's role. If he bats No. 3, it pushes in-form Angkrish Raghuvanshi down. This is a squad that allows for many permutations, and KKR will hope to land on the right one.

Player to Watch: Angkrish Raghuvanshi
The 21-year-old managed just 49 runs from four Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy matches, but finds a different rhythm in the KKR setup, now coached by his mentor Abhishek Nayar. He blasted a 55-ball 103* in an intra-squad match. KKR assistant coach Shane Watson said, "Don't be surprised if he shoots the lights out this IPL."

KKR's jersey launch video featured a traffic light stuck on 49—a subtle reference to RCB's 49 all out at Eden Gardens in 2017, the lowest total in IPL history. This year's fixture will hardly need a reminder.