If there’s one glamour team in the already very glamorous Indian Premier League, it’s the Kolkata Knight Riders. A superstar, charismatic owner at the helm and with some very flamboyant characters in their team, KKR will come into IPL 2017 knowing they’ll need to guard against complacency. They roared off the blocks last season winning four out of their first five games but were catapulted back to earth and lost at the playoff stage. Their squad has depth, now they’ll just need consistency.

Old Faces:

Gautam Gambhir – Veteran captain. Two-time IPL champion. And recently coming off a comeback to the Indian Test cricket team. Gambhir returns as captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders for the seventh time. He had a good last season where he scored five fifties but couldn’t take the team to the final. He’s not getting any younger and will want to complete that hat-trick of titles.

Yusuf Pathan – The Master-Blaster. Over the last seven season, Pathan has enjoyed the reputation of going berserk once or twice every season and then retreating into hibernation. Last season though was an improvement as he married consistency (three fifties at an average of 72) with belligerence (Strike Rate of 146.78). What do we have in store this season?

Sunil Narine – The magician whose magic is fading? Sunil Narine has never managed to reach those dizzying heights of 2014 after he was forced to change his bowling action. His economy though still remains standout and can still make him a tough customer for opposition batsman to get away.

Shakib Al Hasan – A fan favourite. Bangladesh’s favourite son Shakib Al Hasan has been in sparkling form recently. He has never set the IPL alight but this is his best chance.

New Faces:

Trent Boult – The fiery left-arm Kiwi pacer became the third-highest buy at the IPL auction in February when KKR bought him for a cool Rs 5 crore. It’s a gamble because Boult is both injury-prone and hasn’t had a lot of experience in the IPL (only eight matches with the Sunrisers Hyderabad over two seasons). He’s also coming off an injury into the tournament. But if he can get his line and length right, he could be a handful.

Chris Woakes – A newbie to the IPL and hence, an unknown proposition for everyone concerned. But an overall strike rate of close to 150 in T20is, coupled with good fiery pace makes him a good buy. All-rounders are worth their weight in gold and KKR might have managed to get a good deal for themselves.

Nathan Coulter-Nile – Another pacer for Gautam Gambhir to play with. Coulter-Nile, though, isn’t a stranger to the IPL and had a great run in 2015 with the Delhi Daredevils where he took 15 wickets in the season. His pace will trouble opposition batsmen but he can hit the big ones as well.

Rishi Dhawan – The 27-year-old’s been around. With Kings XI Punjab, then with Mumbai Indians and now with the Kolkata Knight Riders who paid Rs 55 lakh at the auction to acquire his services. He hasn’t yet lit up the IPL but KKR will expect him to play a holding role with his bowling.

Strengths:

Gambhir’s captaincy – A proven performer. He’s taken them to two titles. He consistently provides the impetus at the beginning of his innings. The veteran who can be trusted.

A strong bowling attack – Nathan Coulter-Nile, Umesh Yadav, Trent Boult and Chris Woakes for pace. Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav and Shakib Al Hasan for spin. It’s one of the strongest bowling attacks in the league.

All-round depth – All-rounders provide balance in Twenty20s and KKR have got a whole lot of them. They don’t have Andre Russell this year but in Shakib, Woakes and Yusuf Pathan, they have good replacements.

Weaknesses:

No Andre Russell – The omission of the big Jamaican due to a ban for a doping whereabouts violation is a huge blow for KKR. Take a look at his figures last season: a batting strike rate of 160+ and a bowling average of just over 19. Couple that with his electrifying fielding and it’s a package that’s going to be hard to replace for KKR. His replacement, Zimbabwean-born New Zealander Colin de Grandhomme has big boots to fill.

Out-of-touch batsmen – Gautam Gambhir aside, Kolkata have been troubled by the form of their other batsmen. Manish Pandey, Robin Uthappa and Suryakumar Yadav haven’t scored as heavily as the team would like them to.

Prediction:

Third. To get eliminated in the playoffs again

X-Factor:

Kuldeep Yadav – Sunil Narine’s powers may be on the wane but KKR have a worthy replacement in the mystery spinner’s stakes. Kuldeep Yadav destroyed Australia in the fourth Test in Dharamsala and his confidence is sky-high. Kolkata have used him sparingly so far – he only played three games last season but excelled with six wickets an average of 16 and economy of only eight. Expect to see him used far more regularly this season.

Full squad:

Gautam Gambhir (captain), Robin Uthappa (wicket-keeper), Darren Bravo, Ishank Jaggi, Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Chris Lynn, Suryakumar Yadav, Sheldon Jackson (wicket-keeper), Chris Woakes, Rishi Dhawan, Sanjay Yadav, Rovman Powell, Shakib Al Hasan, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Trent Boult, Sayan Ghosh, Piyush Chawla, Umesh Yadav, Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, Ankit Rajpoot, Colin de Grandhomme (as replacement for Andre Russell)

Head coach: Jacques Kallis

Bowling coach: Lakshmipathy Balaji