The Kolkata franchise has won the IPL on two previous occassions but under the leadership of Karthik and Morgan they have not been able to dish out similar performances. This season, Morgan will be captaining the side from scratch unlike the last season where he took over from Karthik after seven games. They will play five games in Bengaluru, four in Ahmedabad, three in Chennai and two in Mumbai.

Strengths : –

  1. Possess the best middle-order in the league which can be relied on to finish off matches. ( Karthik, Russell, Morgan)
  2. Varun Chakravarthy’s discovery as their first-choice spinner was much-needed as Kuldeep and Narine were not in the best of form.
  3. Highly talented Indian quick bowlers who are coming up the ranks.
  4. A strong bench strength.
Image courtesy : KKR / Twitter

Weaknesses : –

  1. A top order that lacks a gun batsman who can contribute in giving a flying start.
  2. The Indian pacers have the talent but are not that experienced and can prove to be expensive.
  3. Do not have other death bowling options besides Lockie.
  4. Lack of depth in the batting order.

Keys to Success : –

  1. Russell to unleash his dangerous, big-hitting prowess just like the 2019 season.
  2. At least one out of the top three batsmen should play with a decent strike-rate throughout the tournament which would not leave the middle-order under pressure.
  3. The other bowlers should prove to be a good support to Cummins in the powerplay.
  4. Varun Chakravarthy to remain fit throughout the season.

Team Combination : –

  1. Gill 2. Tripathi 3. Rana 4. Morgan 5. Karthik 6. Russell 7. Cummins 8. Lockie/Narine 9. Nagarkoti 10. Chakravarthy 11. Krishna.

Possible Finish : –

Mid-table, around 5th position.

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