3 reasons why KKR's 2024 win is the greatest in IPL history
The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) lifted their third Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy after beating the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight wickets in the final at Chepauk on Sunday, May 26. They now have the second-most IPL titles in their kitty after the Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians, who have five each.
The Knight Riders came into this edition of the tournament as minnows, as none of the experts picked them in their list of favorites to win the tournament. However, the Purple Brigade proved everyone wrong by winning the title.
Kolkata finished on top of the leaderboard after the group phase. They then defeated the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Qualifier 1 at the Narendra Modi Stadium by eight wickets. Shreyas Iyer and company repeated the feat by beating Hyderabad again in the final at Chepauk to lift the trophy.
On that note, let's take a look at three reasons why KKR's 2024 win is the greatest in IPL history.
#1 KKR dominated throughout the tournament
Kolkata played like true champions right from the word go, winning three matches on the trot to start the tournament. They lost a game here and there but never looked out of sorts at any given point.
Quite deservingly, they finished at the top of the standings with 20 points from 14 games. They won nine matches and lost three, while two fixtures were abandoned due to inclement weather.
During their title-winning campaigns in 2012 and 2014, Kolkata didn't look as dominating as this year. Moreover, they finished second in the points table in those two years as compared to 2024 when they ended the league stage on top of the leaderboard.
Iyer and company were equally dominating in the playoffs this year, winning both games by a margin of eight wickets. It is enough to prove that they were miles ahead of the SunRisers as a team, who finished second in the standings.
#2 Contributions from every cricketer
Although cricket is a team sport, ultimately it boils down to one or two players doing the heavy lifting for the side more often than not. However, it was different for KKR this year.
Every cricketer, who even played only one game, left his mark on the performance of the team, which made this victory even more special. Four batters have scored over 350+ runs this season, while five bowlers have picked up 15+ wickets, which is a testament to the collective performance by Kolkata players this season. The support staff also played a key role in keeping the players fit both mentally and physically throughout the campaign.
Mitchell Starc, who won the Player of the Match awards in Qualifier 1 and final, summed it up beautifully after the summit clash. Speaking to the host broadcaster, the senior pacer said:
"We've had a fantastic squad of bowlers and batters, our staff have been fantastic to get everyone peaking for the back end of the tournament. We've been such a consistent side, we haven't had one or two people standout, it's been contributions from everyone. Great to contribute personally, but the fact we had everyone contribute throughout has been a big part of the success."
#3 Striking with both bat and ball
The ratio - 1.17 - between KKR's run rate with the bat and economy rate with the ball is the best ever in the history of the league (via ESPNCricinfo). They went past the Mumbai Indians, who had a ratio of 1.14 during their title-winning campaign in 2020.
As a result, KKR boasted the best Net Run Rate in IPL 2024 and were miles away from the rest of the teams, which gave them an edge throughout the tournament this year.