IPL 2009 Preview: Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders

Well supported side owned by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan. Despite making the most profit in IPL 2008, they couldn't make the semi finals. May see a captaincy rotation between Ganguly, Hodge, McCullum and Gayle in matches which is a new experiment for cricket. Bookmakers are showing them at 8-1, and ranked second last in the betting to take IPL 2009. Not surprising as Ponting has appears to have done a runner and they're lacking depth in most departments.

Key Players: Sourav Ganguly, McCullum, Gayle, Hussey and Mendis

Ins and Outs: Ricky Ponting has decided tot to play this season. Pakistan players Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul and Salman Butt will not play. Mortaza is the new man in.

Batsmen

Ricky Ponting Ozzie captain with over 10,000 test and 11,000 ODI runs. A living legend and won nearly everything going. Not expected to play after ruling himself out in order to devote time to the Australia squad.
Brad Hodge is another Australian international who's a right handed middle order batsman and useful off spinner at domestic level.
Aakash Chopra Thirty something 10 time former Indian opener. Hard to imagine how he'll go with his very defensive batting style. Maybe he'll sign copies of his book between overs.
Debabrata Das Promising U19 Indian right hander.
Cheteshwar Pujara Another promising young Indian right hander. Hit 3 triple centuries within a month during the domestic season.

Wicket Keepers

Brendon McCullum Aggressive batter who opens for New Zealand in one dayers. Smacked the worlds biggest ever Twenty20 score of 158 not out in the opening match last season.
Morne van Wyk 30 year old who'se played 6 ODI for South Africa.
Wriddhiman Saha Young Indian domestic player who featured 12 times in 2008 IPL.

All Rounders

Sourav Ganguly(Captain) KKR captain and icon player. Over 11,000 runs and 100 wickets in international one dayers for India. Lost his shirt at Lords.Laxmi Ratan Shukla late 20s Indian domestic player with 3 ODI caps. Steady middle-order batsman and medium-pace bowler.
Chris Gayle The West Indies captain bats left handed and bowls right arm spin. Averages 41 with the bat and 33 with the ball in ODI.
Mortaza The Narail Express is a bowling all rounder and star in the Bangladesh team.
David Hussey Australias' Little Mr Cricket scored 319 at 29 in his first IPL season. More of a batsman, and his off-break bowling has been expensive in the past.
Moises Henriques Born in Madeira, Portugal, and moved to Oz. A genuine all rounder and considered to be one of the best young talents in Australian cricket. Made his debut for Oz in a T20 game earlier this year and signed for $650,000.
Angelo Mathews Young Sri Lankan batting all rounder.
Ajit Agarkar Quick bowling all rounder with 190 odd ODI for India.
Iqbal Abdullah
Sachin Rana

Bowlers

Ajantha Mendis Young Sri Lanka international spinner who won the 2008 Emerging Player of the Year award at the LG ICC Awards. Should be utilised to the max after being overlooked last season.
Ashok Dinda Indian domestic bowler and returned some of the most economical bowling in last years IPL.
Murali Kartik Indian left arm spinner with a bowling average of 44 from 37 ODIs. Not the most economical. Also a useful low order batsman for Middlesex at county level.
Ishant Sharma Young Indian Fast bowler with 17 tests and 27 ODI under his belt. On the rise, and Kolkata Knight Riders will be hoping he comes up trumps with the ball.
Charl Langeveldt 34 year old ex Saffer international with his best days behind him. Should find the going easier at home.
Mohnish Parmar