Former KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir, who led them to the Indian Premier League (IPL) title twice, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will enter a fresh era under new captain Dinesh Karthik when they host Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore in their first match at Eden Gardens on Sunday.
As KKR seek to create a new identity in the post-Gambhir era, it would not be a surprise to see a packed Sunday Eden crowd rooting for the star Indian skipper Kohli in the RCB jersey. The mood of uncertainty in the home camp was aptly summed by their assistant coach Simon Katich who termed themselves as "underdogs" against RCB, despite KKR leading the head-to-head record 12-9.
Karthik's last ball six in the T20 Tri-nation final win over Bangladesh last month sent a timely assurance to the KKR loyalists but the Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper batsman has an envious task at hand to match or better what Gambhir did as the southpaw led KKR to two titles in 2012 and 2014. The first task up front will be to find the right balance in what seems to be a weak middle order and a motivate the pace attack which got depleted after the pullout of Aussie pace spearhead Mitchell Starc.
KKR skipper Karthik has an unknown entity in Rinku Singh, and three uncapped youngsters in Shubman Gill, Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarcoti, fresh from winning Under-19 World Cup. KKR's nucleus is intact in Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla and Kuldeep Yadav.