KKR Team 2025 Players List: Check Complete Kolkata Knight Riders Squad and Overview

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) is a professional cricket team based in Kolkata, India. The team was founded in 2008 and is jointly owned by Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan (55%) and Mehta Group (45%). KKR competed at home in Eden Gardens, Kolkata, and can accommodate up to 68,000 fans.

As of the 2025 season, Ajinkya Rahane led the team as captain and Venkatesh Iyer as deputy captain. KKR won the Indian Premier League (IPL) championship three times: 2012, 2014 and 2024.

In the 2025 IPL season, KKR will start the championship defense against Royal Challenger Bengaluru on March 22. The team’s motto is “Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo” (performance, battle, victory), and their official colors are purple and gold.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Team Overview 2025

In the 2025 season, the Kolkata Cavaliers Riders (KKR) was led by Ajinkya Rahane as captain, which was a major change from the previous year when Shryas Iyer won their third IPL title in 2024.

The team retained key players such as Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, while making famous acquisitions such as Venkatesh Iyer for a record 23.75 crore rupees, Quinton De Kock and Anrich Nortje.

Team History and Achievements

Founded in 2008, KKR is owned by Red Chillies Entertainment, a company co-founded by Shah Rukh Khan and Jay Mehta. The team’s name is inspired by the popular TV series The Knight Knight.

  • Early (2008-2010): Initially, the team struggled under captains such as Sourav Ganguly and Brendon McCullum and performed poorly in the league.
  • First Success (2011-2012): Under Gautam Gambhir, KKR made his first playoff run in 2011 and won the IPL title in 2012, beating Chennai Super Kings in the final.
  • Second Championship (2014): KKR won his second IPL title in 2014 again under the captain of Gambier.
  • In recent years (2021 – 2024): Under Eoin Morgan, the team reached the finals in 2021 but lost to Chennai Super Kings. In 2024, they won their third title under Shreyas Iyer.

Key players and roles

  • Cricketers: The batting lineup includes Rinku Singh, known for his finishing skills, Venkatesh Iyer is a versatile top-level hitter, and Ajinkya Rahane provides the experience.
  • Bowler: The bowling unit gets spinning from Varun Chakravarthy and pace of Anrich Nortje, and is supported by young pacemakers like Sunil Narine and Harshit Rana.
  • Ticket Checker: While Litton Das is known as a potential ticket checker, current teams include Quinton de Kock and Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who are both able to keep the wicket.

Strategies for 2025

KKR’s goal is to build a comprehensive team with experienced players and emerging talent combinations. Their strategy involves strengthening the batting and bowling sectors to challenge the IPL championship again in 2025.

KKR 2025 Full Squad: Player List, Coach, Captain and Key Retention

  • Captain: Ajinkya Rahane
  • Coach: Chandrakant Pandit
  • Owner: Knight Rider Sports Pte Ltd
  • Location: Garden of Eden

KKR enters the 2025 season with solid players and strategic additions to the core of success starting from the previous year.

Keep the players

KKR retained six players in the 2025 season:

  • Rinku Singh (Rs 13 crore)
  • Varun Chakravarthy (Rs 12 crore)
  • Sunil Narine (Rs 12 crore)
  • Andre Russell (Rs 12 crore)
  • Harshit Rana (Rs 4 crore)
  • Ramandeep Singh (Rs 4 crore)

The player released

Famous players released by KKR include:

  • Shreyas Iyer
  • Rahmanullah Gurbaz
  • Nitish Rana
  • Sherfane Rutherford
  • Phil Salt
  • KS Bharat
  • Manish Pandey
  • Anukul Roy
  • Venkatesh Iyer (original release but later resigned)

Newly added

  • Venkatesh Iyer: The acquisition for a record price of Rs 23.75 crore makes him the most expensive all-around player in IPL history.
  • Quinton de Kock: Signed for the explosive opener and ticket inspector for Rs 36 crore.
  • Anrich Nortje: South African pacemakers have added Rs 650 crore to strengthen bowling units.
  • Rahmanullah Gurbaz: Signed Rs 2 crore.
  • Angkrish Raghuvanshi: Acquisition for Rs 3 crore.
  • Mayank Markande: Spinner signed Rs 3 million.
  • Vaibhav Arora: Rs 18 crore retained.
  • Rovman Powell: Signed Rs 150 crore.
  • Manish Pandey: Acquisition for Rs 7.5 lakh.
  • Spencer Johnson: Signed Rs 280 crore.
  • Luvnith Sisodia: Acquisition for Rs 3 million.
  • Ajinkya Rahane: Signed Rs 150 crore.
  • Anukul Roy: Acquisition for Rs 4 million.
  • Moeen Ali: Signed Rs 2 crore.
  • Umran Malik: Acquisition for Rs 7.5 lakh

Kolkata Knight Rider Player 2025: Complete Squad Details

In 2025, KKR’s entire team includes retained players, new signings and other acquisitions made during the auction:

category

Player name

Role

Batter

Ajinkya Rahane

batter

Rinku Singh

batter

Quinton de Kock

wk-batter

Rahmanullah Gurbaz

wk-batter

Angkrish Raghuvanshi

batter

Rofman Powell

batter

Manish Pandey

batter

Luvnith Sisodia

wk-batter

Almighty

Venkatesh Iyer

Almighty

Anukul Roy

Almighty

Moeen Ali

Almighty

Ramandeep Singh

Almighty

Andre Russell

Almighty

Bowler

Anrich Nortje

Bowler

Vaibhav Arora

Bowler

Mayank Markande

Bowler

Spencer Johnson

Bowler

Harshit Rana

Bowler

Sunil Narine

Bowler

Varun Chakaravarthy

Bowler

Chetan Sakariya

Bowler

Kolkata Knight Rider IPL 2025 Schedule and Fixtures

This is the list format for KKR’s IPL 2025 timetable:

date

Competition number

site

opponent

Results/Status

March 22, 22

The first game

Garden of Eden

Royal Challenger Bangalore

RCB wins 7 wickets

March 26, 26

Game 6

Guwahati

Rajasthan Royals

KKR won 8 wickets

March 31, 25

Game 12

Wankhede

Mumbai Indians

The competition is about to begin

April 3, 2005

Game 15

Garden of Eden

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Not started yet

April 8, 2005

Game 21

Garden of Eden

Lucknow Super Giant

Not started yet

April 11, 2005

Game 25

Chennai

Chennai Super King

Not started yet

April 15, 2005

Game 31

Mullanpur

King of Punjab

Not started yet

April 21, 2005

Game 39

Garden of Eden

Gujarat Titan

Not started yet

April 26, 2005

Game 44

Garden of Eden

King of Punjab

Not started yet

April 29, 2005

Game 48

Delhi

Delhi Capital

Not started yet

May 4, 2005

Game 53

Garden of Eden

Rajasthan Royals

Not started yet

May 7, 2005

Game 57

Garden of Eden

Chennai Super King

Not started yet

May 10, 25

Game 60

Hyderabad

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Not started yet

May 17, 2005

Game 68

Bengaluru

Royal Challenger Bangalore

Not started yet