KKR strongest playing 11 plus Impact Player options for IPL 2025 ft. Ajinkya Rahane & Quinton de Kock
The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are on a quest to defend their Indian Premier League (IPL) title. Although the 2024 champions will be without their title-winning skipper Shreyas Iyer and a few other key players, they are among the favorites to go all the way once again.
The Knight Riders have announced Ajinkya Rahane as their captain for the upcoming season, and that has shed some light on what their ideal combination could look like. KKR have also had to ring in a change, with Umran Malik being ruled out of the tournament and Chetan Sakariya joining as his replacement.
KKR's squad for IPL 2025: Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Luvnith Sisodia, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Varun Chakaravarthy, Mayank Markande, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Anrich Nortje, Spencer Johnson, Chetan Sakariya.
On that note, here is KKR's strongest XI, apart from a set of impact player options, for IPL 2025.
Openers: Quinton de Kock (wk) and Sunil Narine
Rahmanullah Gurbaz was part of the franchise last year, and KKR value continuity. But the Afghan keeper-batter has been in disappointing form of late, giving Kolkata the easy option of pairing Sunil Narine with the explosive Quinton de Kock. De Kock will also don the gloves for the side.
Middle Order: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh
Rahane, the new skipper, could bat at No. 3, where he will face a good amount of pace overs. Known to struggle against spin, the experienced batter will need to take his game to the next level now that he is guaranteed to feature in all matches.
KKR's most expensive signing at the auction, Venkatesh Iyer will be a key cog in the middle order. If Kolkata don't bring in a batting impact player, Rinku Singh might have to bat a bit higher than usual at No. 5. The southpaw didn't have much to do with the bat last year, and an increased role could bring the best out of him.
Andre Russell and Ramandeep Singh, who were retained ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, will round off the middle order. Rovman Powell will likely serve as the former's backup.
Lower Order: Harshit Rana, Anrich Nortje, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora
Picking KKR's strongest bowling attack is a straightforward task. Varun Chakaravarthy is in red-hot form, while Harshit Rana has gone from strength to strength. Vaibhav Arora should also feature, given his prowess with the new ball and ability to hit the deck hard in the middle overs.
Anrich Nortje has struggled to stay fit, but he has joined the camp and is set to be the team's frontline overseas quick ahead of Spencer Johnson. Johnson is a quality option as well, but Nortje's experience and express pace should tilt the scales in his favor.
Impact Player Options - Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Chetan Sakariya, Mayank Markande, Anukul Roy, Luvnith Sisodia
KKR are spoilt for choice when it comes to impact player options.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who had a breakout IPL 2024 season, is the obvious choice. If the Knight Riders want another top-order batter, they could go in the direction of Luvnith Sisodia, who has reportedly been hitting the ball well in the pre-season camp.
The Knight Riders can also pick an additional bowling option. Anukul Roy could be their primary left-arm spinner against oppositions that are stacked with right-handers, while Mayank Markande could enter the fray if they want a bit more wicket-taking threat through the middle overs.
Chetan Sakariya, who has replaced Umran, could give them an extra pace option if they need someone to take the bowling workload off the injury-prone duo of Russell and Nortje.