After losing their match against Lucknow Super Giants, Kolkata Knight Riders have joined reigning champions Chennai Super Kings and five-time champions Mumbai Indians in being eliminated from the playoff race. The team’s final league game, a 2-run loss to the Lucknow Super Giants on May 18, was the final nail in the coffin for coach Brendon McCullum’s side. Here in this article, we have talked about How many times did KKR qualify for playoffs?
The Kolkata Knight Riders used to be the IPL’s laughingstock. In the first three seasons of the IPL, they placed 6th, 8th, and 6th. KKR only became a formidable force after undergoing a thorough revamp in 2011. Gautam Gambhir’s appointment was a turning point in the history of KKR. In 2011, he guided the franchise to its first playoff appearance.
Since then, in 2012 and 2014, Kolkata Knight Riders won the league both times. They are third in the most championships category, after Mumbai Indians (four) and Chennai Super Kings (three). In 13 seasons, KKR has made the playoffs 7 times, winning two titles. They’ve had a start-stop record in the league recently, having failed to reach the final since 2014 until last season, when they rallied in the second leg to finish second.
The years that the Kolkata team qualified for playoffs were 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021.
Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2022:
In this season, Shreyas Iyer’s first season as captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders, he scored the most runs for the team. Shreyas Iyer scored 401 runs in 14 matches for the IPL 2022, with a strike rate of 134.56. In a relatively humdrum season for his organization, the excellent right-handed hitter from India hammered 41 boundaries and 11 maximums. In IPL 2022, the Mumbaikar smashed three half-centuries, the highest of which was 85.
With 17 wickets in 14 games, West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell was the Knight Riders’ leading wicket-taker. In another game, the right-arm pacer had a four-for. With 16 wickets in 12 games, India’s Umesh Yadav finished the season as the franchise’s leading wicket-taker.
The right-arm fast got off to a strong start in the season, taking wickets in the powerplay match after match. However, niggles and pitches in the midst of the competition hampered his ability to take wickets with the new ball. He had 16 victims and a 7.06 economy at the end of the event.
Lesser known facts about Kolkata Knight Riders :
KKR is also the franchise with the most straight victories in a season and overall. In 2014, they won nine consecutive games, which they expanded to ten at the start of the 2015 season.
At Eden Gardens, Kolkata, Gautam Gambhir scored 1343 runs at an average of 34.44 from 44 innings, the most by any KKR player at a single venue in the IPL.
Sunil Narine has 56 wickets in 45 IPL matches at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, with an SR of 18.29, the highest by any KKR player at a single venue.