| The Kolkata Knight Riders is the Kolkata franchise of | | | | heap-winning a paltry three games out of 14. |
| the Indian Premier League. The logo of the franchise | | | | == Star attractions of the KKR for 2010 == |
| is a blazing helmet-a hybrid of a knight's helmet and a | | | | Sourav Ganguly (captain), Chris Gayle (WI), Ishant |
| batsman's helmet. The Prince of Kolkata, Sourav | | | | Sharma, Brad Hodge (AUS), Ajit Agarkar, Charl |
| Ganguly, leads the Knights into battle for the 2010 | | | | Langeveldt (AUS), Brendon McCullum (NZ), Angelo |
| season. With the departure of John Buchanan as | | | | Matthews (SL), Ajantha Mendis (SL) and Murali Kartik |
| coach, KKR hopes that the Ganguly/Whatmore | | | | == Coaching staff== |
| combination brings success to the Kolkata franchise. | | | | Head Coach: Dav Whatmore (AUS) |
| KKR's motto is "We will do it, Fight for it, Win it," but | | | | Assistant Coach: Vijay Dahiya |
| they have done more fighting than doing or winning | | | | Bowling Coach: Wasim Akram (PAK) |
| in the first two IPL seasons. It is a surprise that | | | | Physiotherapist: Andrew Leipus (AUS) |
| Kolkata remains a popular brand in the IPL despite its | | | | == 2010 Kings XI Punjab Squad == |
| lack of success. However, Shah Rukh Khan, the living | | | | Batsmen: Kumar Sangakarra (captain/wk), Adrian |
| Bollywood Legend, is the co-owner of the franchise. | | | | Barath, Mohammad Kaif, Mahela Jayawardene, Shaun |
| The pairing of Khan and Ganguly, rumoured to be | | | | Marsh, Ravi Bopara, Bipul Sharma, Tanmay |
| volatile, certainly helps to make the Kolkata franchise | | | | Srivastava, Karan Goel and Manvinder Bisla (wk) |
| marketable-given the icon status of both men. The | | | | All rounders: Irfan Pathan, James Hopes, Yuvraj |
| famous 90,000-seater Eden Gardens is the home of | | | | Singh, RS Sodhi |
| the Knight Riders, ensuring that the franchise's | | | | Bowlers: S Sreesanth, Brett Lee, R Powar, A Singh, L |
| coffers are filled by attendance alone. | | | | Ablish, V Malik, Y Abdulla, P Chawla, S Srivastava |
| == Brief IPL history == | | | | Having a group of world-class all rounders and a few |
| Established in 2008, as one of eight original IPL | | | | strike bowlers, the Kings XI Punjab seem to wear |
| teams, the Kolkata Knight Riders had a poor on-field | | | | the crown with the ball. The batting is still very |
| showing in the debut IPL. Controversy and tabloid-like | | | | strong, but the success of the Kings in 2010 seems |
| speculation defined their season, instead of stellar | | | | to depend on how well they contain opposing |
| cricket on field. Although KKR included Brendon | | | | batsmen with their attack. They stand a good |
| McCullum, Ganguly and Shoaib Ahktar in 2008, they | | | | chance as any of making the semi-finals but their lack |
| failed to reach the semi-finals. 2009 was even worse | | | | of T20 star power makes them outsiders for the |
| for Kolkata, as they finished at the bottom of the | | | | title in IPL 2010. |