Kolkata Knight Riders
| কলকাতা নাইট রাইডার্স | |
 |
|
| Captain: | Gautam Gambhir |
|---|---|
| Coach: | Jacques Kallis |
| City: | Kolkata, West Bengal, India |
| Colours: |  |
| Owner: |
Shah Rukh Khan (Red Chillies Entertainment) Juhi Chawla, Jay Mehta (Mehta Group) |
| Founded: | 2008 |
| Home ground: | Eden Gardens, Kolkata |
| Capacity: | 68,000 |
| Indian Premier League wins: | 2 (2012, 2014) |
| Official website: | www |
 Kolkata Knight Riders in 2017
|
|
The Kolkata Knight Riders (also known by the acronym KKR) are a franchise cricket team representing the city of Kolkata in the Indian Premier League. The franchise is owned by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla and her spouse Jay Mehta. The team is currently captained by Gautam Gambhir and coached by Jacques Kallis, a former player of the team. The home of the Knight Riders is Eden Gardens, the largest cricket stadium in India and the third largest in the world by seating capacity.
Although the team has gained immense popularity due to its association with celebrity owners, it was surrounded with controversy and poor on-field performance through the first three years of the tournament. The team's performance, however, improved from the fourth season as it qualified for the IPL playoffs as well as the now defunct Champions League Twenty20. They eventually became the IPL champions for the first time in 2012, by defeating Chennai Super Kings in the final and repeated the feat in 2014, defeating Kings XI Punjab. The Knight Riders hold the record for the longest winning streak by any Indian team in T20s (14).
The leading run-scorer of the side is Gautam Gambhir, while the leading wicket-taker is Sunil Narine. The official theme of the team is Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo Re (we will act, fight and win!) and the official colours are purple and gold. The brand value of the Knight Riders was estimated at $86 million in 2015, the highest valuation amongst all eight teams by a margin.
In 2008, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) created the cricket tournament Indian Premier League based on the Twenty20 form of the game. Eight teams would participate in the inaugural tournament held in April – June of the same year. The teams representing the eight different cities of India were put up on auction in Mumbai on 20 February. The team representing Kolkata was eventually bought by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's company Red Chillies Entertainment in partnership with actress Juhi Chawla and her husband Jay Mehta for a price of $75.09 million, equal to approximately ₹2.98 billion at that time.Sourav Ganguly, the former captain of the Indian national team, a native of West Bengal (nicknamed as Bengal Tiger, Dada or Prince of Kolkata) was named the Icon Player for the team.
...
Wikipedia