Kolkata Knight Riders also referred to as KKR is the franchise representing Kolkata in the Indian Premier League, a Twenty20 cricket tournament. The team is led by Sourav Ganguly, who is also the Icon Player for the team, and coached by John Buchanan.
The official theme of the team is Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo Re (We will do it, Fight for it, Win it) and the official colors are black and gold. Knight Riders is one of the franchise of the eight team taking part in the Indian Premier League. It was bought by Bollywood actor ShahRukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment in partnership with Juhi Chawla Mehta and her husband, Jai Mehta.
The Knight Riders had a good beginning to the season by winning their first two matches against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Deccan Chargers. Knight Riders' opening batsman Brendon McCullum scored 158 runs in the first match, which is a record for the highest runs ever scored by a batsman in a Twenty-20 match.
However, the team started experiencing failures and lost consecutive four matches. The team managed to stage a comeback of sorts by winning next three matches based on strong performances by Sourav and Shoaib Akhtar. But their performance dipped again and lost next three matches, which included their match against Mumbai Indians, in which they were bowled out for 67 runs, the lowest score by a team in IPL.
When their match against Delhi Daredevils was washed out due to rain, they lost any chance of making it to the semifinals. The Knight Riders ended their season on a winning note by defeating Kings XI Punjab on their home ground. There were reports of a rift between Shahrukh Khan and Sourav Ganguly over various issues such as team composition, Sourav's choice of batting first in the game against Chennai Super Kings, entertainment tax being imposed for matches played at Eden Gardens (Shahrukh reportedly wanted Sourav to speak to the West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya about it, which was refused by Sourav).
It was also reported that Shahrukh Khan bestowed more powers to John Buchanan including giving him full powers to select the team for the following year which was not liked by Sourav. However, the team management issued a statement that the reports of a possible rift are untrue. Shahrukh Khan was further barred by the International Cricket Council Anti-Corruption Unit from entering the dressing room of the team when matches were in progress.
Shahrukh Khan then issued a statement that he would be boycotting the remaining matches of the IPL till the code of conduct was clarified by the IPL authorities. There were also speculations that Kolkata Knight Riders will shift its base from Kolkata to Ahmedabad because of the money demanded by the C.A.B. But after a meeting with Jagmohan Dalmiya, Shah Rukh Khan assured everyone that his team will stay in Kolkata only.
Financially, the Knight Riders were easily the most successful franchise in the IPL, achieving a profit of Rs. 13 crore. Kolkata Knight Riders was among the least active franchises during the offseason, with no player trades. However, the team signed Mohnish Parmar during the offseason and also resigned Ajantha Mendis to a long term deal. The most notable personnel move for Knight Riders came during the 2009 IPL Auction, where the team signed Bangladesh all-rounder Mashrafe Mortaza.
KKR would be the first team in IPL who will be finding its cheer leaders by a talent hunt show called knights and angels, judged by Sourav Ganguly and Guest Star and hosted by Bollywood actor Purab Kohli. Sourav Ganguly, the former captain of the Indian cricket team is the icon player and led the Kolkata franchise. The team also includes the allrounder Chris Gayle, David Hussey, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Moises Henriques, wicket keeper batsman Brendon McCullum, Wriddhiman Saha. The main bowlers are Ishant Sharma, Ashok Dinda, Ajit Agarkar and Murali Karthik. Australian Skipper Ricky Ponting who played only a few matches in 2008 season before returning to National duties, has pulled off from IPL2 due to personal reasons. Australian batsman Brad Hodge and Sri Lankan bowler Ajantha Mendis were bought outside IPL Austion on 2008. On IPL Auction 2009 Team bought Bangladeshi All-Rounder Mashrafe Mortaza.Team also includes Charl Langeveldt who was signed outside of Auction.Due to Pakistani players unavailability in 2009 Team has to suspend contract of key performer of 2008 season Umar Gul.
