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ToggleThe Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 has reached in its business end, and only the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have qualified for the playoffs of the 17th season of the tournament. The Shreyas Iyer led KKR are at the top of the points table with nine wins and one no-result in 13 games with a strong net run rate (NRR) of +1.428.
The ‘Purple Army’ began the season with three back-to-back wins, before slipping a little in the middle of the tournament with only two victories in the next three encounters. But they are going through a fantastic run with four successive wins, two of which has come against the Mumbai Indians.
‘That’s why they are table toppers’ – Harbhajan Singh reveals the secret of KKR
Former India spinner, Harbhajan Singh believes that KKR are a strong contender to earn the IPL 2024 title, besides reckoning that the two-time champions have a well-balanced squad and would be really hard to get better off.
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The washed-out result against the Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in their last game ensured a top two finish the KKR side.
‘They have very good chances because the team is very good. It’s an extremely balanced team. I don’t think they have anything lacking in their team,” the former spinner expressed in a discussion with Star Sports.
“The opening slots, middle order, fast and spin bowling are all set. They have all the options a good team should have and that is why they are the table toppers,” he added.
The former Mumbai Indians player also felt that with so many match-winners in the side, KKR could lift their third IPL trophy in this season, under the mentorship of Gautam Gambhir.
“I feel they are the strongest contenders to lift the trophy because they have a lot of match-winners. The opposing team needs to have a very good day to beat them,” the veteran remarked.
“I feel it would be slightly difficult to beat them this season because they are playing terrific cricket.”
‘They atmosphere will be slightly different’ – Mohammad Kaif
Another former India player, Mohmmad Kaif also felt that playoffs scenarios might be different for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). With Phil Salt returning home due to the national duties, they need a stable and aggressive opener to give hand to Sunil Narine.
The England wicket-keeper batter, Phil Salt ended this IPL 2024 with 435 runs in 12 innings at a strike rate of 182. The closest player to replace him would be Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
“When they will reach here for Qualifier 1, (Phil) Salt won’t be there. A new player would have to play there,” Mohammad Kaif told in the same discussion.”So, the atmosphere will be slightly different but they will be happy because of the way they have played. All players are in form. We rarely see such a turnaround.”
“The last two years were very bad for KKR. They finished at the seventh position in two successive years. Now they are finishing at the top. Although one or two games are left, they have qualified. The signs are good. They have good players and a great atmosphere,” the veteran expressed.
The KKR spinners- both Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy done an exceptional job with 18 and 15 wickets at an economy of 8.34 and 6.63 respectively. The former middle order batter feels that the Knight Riders have a very good all-round team for the edition of the IPL.
‘They have (Mitchell) Starc and two uncapped fast bowlers in Vaibhav Arora and Harshit Rana. They have swing and pace. They have (Sunil) Narine and Varun (Chakaravarthy),” Kaif noted.
“They are an extremely balanced team. We haven’t taken Rinku Singh’s name much. They have Andre Russell. I have gotten tired while naming all of them.”
The first qualifier will be played on May 21 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The final of the tournament will be held on May 26 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.