Kolkata Knight Riders is the franchise representing Kolkata in the Indian Premier League. The team will be led by Sourav Ganguly, also the Icon Player for the team and coached by John Buchanan. The name of the team was revealed on March 10, 2008 with an official team unveiling ceremony on March 11, 2008. [1] The official theme of the team is Korbo, Lorbo, Jitbo Re (We will do it, Fight for it, Win it) and the official colors are black and gold.
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Kolkata Knight Riders is a franchise of the eight team Indian Premier League. It was bought on January 24, 2008 by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment in partnership with Juhi Chawla and her husband, Jai Mehta.
The logo of the team consists of blazing golden viking helmet against a black background with the name of the team Kolkata Knight Riders written in gold. The main theme of the team Korbo, Lorbo, Jitbo Re (We will do it, Fight for it, Win it) has been created by Vishal-Shekhar duo.[2] A Knight Rider album with several singers and music composers including Usha Uthup and Bappi Lahiri will also be created.[3] The tag line of the team is All the King's Men.[2] The team's official color is black and gold. Black stands for the courage of Maa Kali and gold stands for the spirit of winning.[3] The jersey was created by Bollywood fashion designer Manish Malhotra.[2] The team also has a mascot named Hoog Lee, who is a lazy Royal Bengal Tiger and loves to eat burgers. The name was chosen after lot of research. The name Knight Riders has been chosen keeping in view of the kids and the youth.[2], and is a obvious reference to the famous television show.[4]
Sponsor
The Kolkata Knight Riders is the only team other than Rajasthan Royals that does not have associated brands. This along with the association of Shah Rukh Khan made Kolkata team the most sort after team in terms of Sponsorship. Kolkata team was the first team to announce it sponsors. HDIL is the title sponsor along with Belmonte , The Telegraph (Kolkata)and Tag Heuer as associates sponsors. A later addition was Nokia as the second title sponsor. It is interesting to note that 3 of the 5 brands have Shah Rukh Khan as their brand ambassador. Reebok is the merchandise sponsor for the team.
Players
Sourav Ganguly, the former captain of the Indian cricket team is the icon player and will lead the Kolkata franchise. Also in the team is allrounder Chris Gayle and wicket keeper batsman Brendon McCullum. The most successful captain in world cricket Ricky Ponting follows suit with a bowling attack including Shoaib Akhtar, Ishant Sharma, Umar Gul. Others include Ajit Agarkar, Murali Karthik and David Hussey.[5]
Current Squad
No.  | Name | Age | Nationality | Batting Style | Bowling/Fielding | Bidding/Sign-in Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Hussey | 30 |  Australia | Right-handed | Right-arm off-break | US$ 625,000 |
| 2 | Ricky Ponting | 33 | Australia | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | US$ 400,000 |
| 3 | Salman Butt | 23 |  Pakistan | Left-handed | Right-arm off-break | US$ 100,000 |
| 4 | Akash Chopra | 30 |  India | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Delhi - Ranji Trophy Player |
| 5 | Cheteshwar Pujara | 22 | India | Right-handed | Right-arm off-break | Saurashtra - Ranji Trophy Player |
| 6 | Rohan Banerjee | 19 | India | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | Bengal Under-22 Team Player |
| 7 | Yashpal Singh | 26 | India | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Services cricket team Player |
| 8 | Debabrata Das | 21 | India | Right-handed | Right-arm off-break | Bengal Under-22 Team Player |
| No. | Name | Age | Nationality | Batting Style | Bowling/Fielding | Bidding/Sign-in Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sourav Ganguly (Captain) ♠ | 35 | India | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | US$ 1,092,500 (Icon Player) ♠ |
| 2 | Tatenda Taibu | 24 |  Zimbabwe | Right-handed | Wicket keeper | US$ 125,000 |
| 3 | Wriddhiman Saha | 23 | India | Right-handed | Wicket keeper | Bengal - Ranji Trophy Player |
| 4 | Brendon McCullum | 26 |  New Zealand | Right-handed | Wicket keeper | US$ 700,000 |
| 5 | Chris Gayle | 28 |  Jamaica | Left-handed | Right-arm off-break | US$ 800,000 |
| 6 | Ajit Agarkar | 30 | India | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | US$ 350,000 |
| 7 | Mohammad Hafeez | 27 | Pakistan | Right-handed | Right-arm off-break | US$ 100,000 |
| 8 | Iqbal Abdulla | 18 | India | Left-handed | Left-arm orthodox spin | India Under-19 Team |
| 9 | Laxmi Ratan Shukla | 26 | India | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | Bengal - Ranji Trophy Player |
| No. | Name | Age | Nationality | Batting Style | Bowling/Fielding | Bidding/Sign-in Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ishant Sharma | 19 | India | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | US$ 950,000 |
| 2 | Shoaib Akhtar | 32 | Pakistan | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | US$ 450,000 |
| 3 | Murali Kartik | 31 | India | Left-handed | Left-arm orthodox spin | US$ 425,000 |
| 4 | Umar Gul | 24 | Pakistan | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | US$ 150,000 |
| 5 | Siddarth Kaul | 17 | India | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | India Under-19 Team |
| 6 | Ranadeb Bose | 29 | India | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | Bengal - Ranji Trophy Player |
| 7 | Sourashish Lahiri | 26 | India | Right-handed | Left-arm orthodox spin | Bengal - Ranji Trophy Player |
Administration and Coaching staff
Front Office:
- Owners - Shah Rukh Khan(Red Chillis Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.), Juhi Chawla & Jai Mehta
- CEO - Joy Bhattacharjee[6]
- President - TBA
Coaches:
- Head Coach - John Buchanan
- Assistant Head Coach - Matthew Mott[7]
- Physiotherapist - Andrew Leipus[8]
- Physical Trainer - Adrian Le Roux, Michael Buchanan[8][9]
Fixtures and Results
Kolkata Knight Riders 2008 Season
| No. | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 April | Bangalore Royal Challengers | Bangalore | |
| 2 | 20 April | Deccan Chargers | Kolkata | |
| 3 | 26 April | Chennai Super Kings | Chennai | |
| 4 | 29 April | Mumbai Indians | Kolkata | |
| 5 | 1 May | Rajasthan Royals | Jaipur | |
| 6 | 3 May | Kings XI Punjab | Mohali | |
| 7 | 8 May | Bangalore Royal Challengers | Kolkata | |
| 8 | 11 May | Deccan Chargers | Hyderabad | |
| 9 | 13 May | Delhi DareDevils | Kolkata | |
| 10 | 16 May | Mumbai Indians | Mumbai | |
| 11 | 18 May | Chennai Super Kings | Kolkata | |
| 12 | 20 May | Rajasthan Royals | Kolkata | |
| 13 | 22 May | Delhi DareDevils | Delhi | |
| 14 | 25 May | Kings XI Punjab | Kolkata |
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