Kolkata Knight Riders, without doubt, have been the most consistent of the sides in the ongoing Indian Premier League-5 which reaches its crescendo next week. The Knights have been ably led by Gautam Gambhir. The team has shown tremendous improvement ever since Gauti took over the captaincy last year.
The southpaw has been on song with the willow in this season, amassing 556 runs at an impressive strike-rate of 142.19. That’s not all. Gauti has marshalled his resources and made all the right moves on the field. Gauti has received good contributions from the overseas recruits — Jacques Kallis, Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine and Brendon McCullum. The pick of the lot has been Narine. The wily off-spinner has rattled the opposition with his variations, and has understandably been his side’s trump card. With 22 scalps from 13 innings, Narine is closing in on the purple cap which is currently being worn by Delhi Daredevils’ Morne Morkel.
The Knight Riders now have 21 points from 16 games and have sealed their spot in the play-offs. If Knights continue to play the way they did in the entire season, one can see no reason why the Kolkata side can’t go on to clinch their maiden title.
— The blogger is a student of Kendriya Vidyalaya No.1 Uppal, Hyderabad