As emotional as Kolkata is known to be towards its sport and sporting heroes, Kolkata Knight Riders have openly defied the norms through the different phases of their 12-year existence in the Indian Premier League. They cut ties with Kolkata's most beloved son - Sourav Ganguly - after three fruitless years at the start as a part of a major strategic overhaul and handed the reins to Gautam Gambhir, who then became synonymous with KKR, winning them two titles in three seasons between 2012-14. And when Gambhir didn't fit in their plans going ahead - ahead of the 2018 mega auctions - they let him go as well, putting Dinesh Karthik in charge of a compact squad.
IPL 2019 PREVIEWS
KKR - A faultless top seven with no spare tyres
In Karthik and Russell, KKR have two of the finest finishers in the format. © BCCI
KKR looked massively understaffed going into the
