IPL 2025: 3 Reasons Why KKR Can't Defend the Title

At the IPL 2025 mega auction, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team made some audacious choices. The team did not keep its IPL-winning captain, Shreyas Iyer, in addition to firing Mitchell Starc, the lightning-fast Australian quick who won "Player of the Match" for his exploits in the qualifier and final of their successful IPL 2024 campaign.

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The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the reigning champions, will face formidable obstacles in their attempt to hold onto the coveted crown as the IPL 2025 season approaches. KKR's lineup for the forthcoming season has changed significantly following a successful IPL 2024 campaign, which raises concerns about its capacity to duplicate previous achievements.

Today, we check the three reasons why KKR might not be able to defend their IPL title in the upcoming IPL 2025 season.

Here are the 3 reasons why KKR can't defend the title in IPL 2025:

1. Undecided leadership

One of the biggest mistakes KKR made was letting their IPL-winning captain Shreyas Iyer go. They failed to come to terms with the Mumbai batter, and Iyer was then picked by Punjab Kings in the IPL 2025 auction and made captain.

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Now KKR is a ship without a captain with very few options to choose from. Ajinkya Rahane is the most likely option if management chooses to rely on the Indian experience. The franchise may, however, take into account Venkatesh Iyer or the tough and charismatic Rinku Singh if it has a wider and more futuristic vision in mind.

Their foreign options are limited to Moeen Ali, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, and Andre Russell, who have had varied degrees of success in leadership roles. KKR needs to find the right captain to lead them in the IPL 2025 for them to successfully defend their IPL title.

2. Weak pace attack

Releasing Mitchell Starc in the IPL 2025 mega auction, while a good financial decision by KKR, has put them in a quandary with their pace attack. The team now relies on the inexperienced Indian pacers Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, and Umran Malik with Anrich Nortje and Spencer Johson for the company.

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Despite being a powerful bowler, Anrich Nortje has several health issues that could cause him to miss important matches. Another important fast bowler for KKR from abroad, Spencer Johnson, enters Indian cricket with little experience. With a weak pace attack and uncertain choices going into their IPL 2024 championship defence in 2025, KKR's bowling department will probably feel the effects of Starc's departure.

3. Dependence of foreign stars

KKR’s batting lineup is dependent on foreign stars like Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Moeen Ali, Rovman Powell, Andre Russell, and Sunil Narine to name a few. Indian names include Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, and Ramandeep Singh, to name a few.

However, KKR will have a huge task with Quinton de Kock, Manish Pandey, and many more not having the best of forms with the bat in recent times. The attractive South African stumper has had a few slow seasons with the bat since scoring more than 500 runs for LSG in 2022. The cricket player only scored 250 runs in 11 innings during the 2024 Indian Premier League, a poor average of 22.72.

KKR also doesn’t have any Indian options for a wicketkeeper and needs to depend on De Kock and Gurbaz for the job, and if both don’t fire, their task of balancing their XI with 4 overseas players becomes difficult.

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