Ahead of the first game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 11 in Chennai, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have left Mumbai. KKR will be staying in Chennai for the first three games before returning to Mumbai for the fourth game against Chennai Super Kings on April 21.
KKR confirmed on Thursday that they have left Mumbai to continue preparations for the new campaign in Chennai. The team had set up a base in Mumbai where the big group of players has been training in the past couple of weeks.
Until we meet again, Mumbai 👋🏽
Time to get down to business! 👊🏼 Chennai calling 🛫#KKRHaiTaiyaar #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/PXnSbCX53a
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 8, 2021
Eoin Morgan’s team will now be using their new camp for games in Chennai from Thursday. Earlier this year. BCCI had decided to stage all matches at Neutral Venues to make sure that no team gets the home advantage.
Most IPL teams have evolved specific squad compositions keeping in mind they play seven games at a venue that is familiar to them each season, but now all of those plans will have to be revised. Teams will also play several matches at a stretch at the same venue – another first. Out of the 56 league matches, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata & Bengaluru will host 10 matches each while Ahmedabad and Delhi will host 8 matches each.
Kolkata will be looking to improve from last season as they missed the playoffs by just one spot. Results and performance were inconsistent throughout IPL 2020. The franchise had a change of captaincy midway through the season. Dinesh Karthik was replaced by Eoin Morgan. Despite the change in the leadership, KKR fell short in the end.
This year KKR will be focusing on a stronger batting order, as they struggled to make good scores. The team recently received positive news on the availability of Bangladeshi allrounder, Shakib Al Hasan. Shakib was KKR’s biggest purchase this season when they bought him for Rs 3.2 crores in IPL 2021 auction. Meanwhile, Nitish Rana is also training with the squad after recovering from coronavirus.