Kolkata Knight Riders
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Wikipedia - Kolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are a professional franchise cricket team representing the city of Kolkata in the Indian Premier League. The franchise is owned by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla and her spouse Jay Mehta. Their home ground is the Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata.
The franchise, which has gained immense popularity due to its association with celebrity owners, qualified for the IPL playoffs for the first time in 2011. They became the IPL champions in 2012, by defeating Chennai Super Kings in the final. They repeated the feat in 2014, defeating Kings XI Punjab. The Knight Riders hold the record for the longest winning streak by any Indian team in T20s (14).
The side's all-time leading run-scorer is Gautam Gambhir, while their leading wicket-taker is Sunil Narine. The official theme of the team is Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo Re (we will perform, fight, and win!) and the official colours are purple and gold.
History
In 2007, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) created the cricket tournament Indian Premier League, based on the Twenty20 format of the game. Eight teams participated in the inaugural tournament held in April – June 2008. The teams representing the eight different cities of India were put up on auction in Mumbai on 20 February 2008. The team representing Kolkata was eventually bought by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's company Red Chillies Entertainment in partnership with actress Juhi Chawla and her husband Jay Mehta for a price of $75.09 million, equal to approximately ₹2.98 billion at that time. Sourav Ganguly, former captain of the Indian national team, a native of West Bengal and former President of BCCI, was named the Icon player for the team. The name of the team is a reference to the popular 1980s American television series Knight Rider.
In June 2015, the team's ownership group bought a stake in the Caribbean Premier League's Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel, and renamed it the Trinbago Knight Riders in 2016. In December 2020, the team also made an investment in the upcoming American T20 league Major League Cricket.
In 2021, the Knight Riders Group CEO, Venky Mysore, announced their entry into the South African T20 league with Cape Town Knight Riders and signalled intentions to invest in ECB's new competition format, The Hundred.
KKR has won the IPL championship twice, in 2012 and 2014, and has also finished as runners-up twice, in 2018 and 2019. The team is coached by Brendon McCullum, a former New Zealand cricketer, and is captained by Eoin Morgan, the current captain of the England cricket team.
The team has a strong batting lineup, with players like Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, and Rahul Tripathi, who are known for their aggressive batting style. KKR also has a formidable bowling attack, with the likes of Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, and Varun Chakravarthy, who have the ability to take wickets at crucial moments.
KKR has a loyal fan base, known as the "Knight Riders Army," who support the team with great enthusiasm. The team plays its home matches at the iconic Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata, which has a seating capacity of over 68,000 spectators. Overall, KKR is a well-balanced team with a strong track record in the IPL and is always a tough opponent for any team they face.