Kolkata Team’s Performance in TATA IPL 2025
2
Matches
1
Won
1
Lost
50
Win %
Expected Playing XI and Impact Sub
Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane ©, Agrkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Anrich Nortje and Moeen Ali
Top Fantasy Picks from the Team
Rinku Singh – The left-hander was retained for 12 crores by the franchise which underlined his importance in the middle order for Kolkata. By hitting 5 sixes when 29 were required to win off the final five balls in 2023, Rinku showed that he’s easily one of the better hitters of the cricket ball and he will start the TATA IPL 2025 season as one of the lynchpin of Kolkata’s batting lineup.
Venkatesh Iyer – While captaincy may still be far away from him, Venkatesh Iyer still remains a key cog in that Kolkata middle-order and would be expected to take over the role that Shreyas Iyer was essaying until last year.
Harshit Rana – The youngster has not only impressed with his pace but has also shown the variations that are needed to excel in this format. He would like to improve on his showing of 19 wickets in 2024 edition.
Varun Chakaravarthy – The off-spinner has taken his game to the next level in the last 12 months and as a result made a very successful comeback to the Indian side. His performances in the Champions Trophy showed why Kolkata decided to retain him ahead of other big names.
Sunil Narine – After having a few underwhelming editions of the tournament with the ball, Narine roared back to form in 2024, showing that the mystery hasn’t gone anywhere. He will be in the thick of things in the team’s TATA IPL 2025 campaign as well.
Kolkata’s Schedule for TATA IPL 2025
SWOT Analysis of Kolkata
While the absence of Gautam Gambhir and Shreyas Iyer might have affected the buzz around the team, the franchise has done well to retain most of the core that won them the title last year. The retention of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine, despite them being on the other side of 35 shows that the team believes in their match winning abilities.
Strengths – The team will definitely benefit from having the core intact from 2024. Meanwhile, the spin pair of Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine always makes Kolkata a tough team to beat at the Eden Gardens. So, spin does appear to be a stronger suit for the team. Moreover, the middle order looks fearsome with the names of Andre Russell, Rinku Singh and Ramandeep Singh.
Weaknesses – The pace department looks slightly uncertain for Kolkata after the departure of Mitchell Starc. While Harshit Rana’s rapid rise through the ranks in the last 12 months augurs well for the team, the other names on the bowling sheet don’t inspire a lot of confidence. Moreover, it would be interesting to see what Ajinkya Rahane the batter brings to the table for Kolkata. The classy batter has struggled in the last few years in the tournament and if he doesn’t hit form early in the tournament, the team might find itself in trouble.
The promotion of Sunil Narine to the top of the batting order was hailed as a Gambhir masterstroke. However, now that the Indian is no longer associated with the franchise, it remains to be seen if the Narine can be convinced again to do the job.
Kolkata Team in TATA IPL 2025
Kolkata became the third most successful side in the league last year after enjoying an incredibly successful season where they tasted defeat only thrice. They even went on to make the Final an absolute no-contest by steamrolling Hyderabad easily to lay their hands on the trophy. They are at this point only second to Chennai and Mumbai in the number of trophies they possess as they added their third title last year, 10 years after bagging their second title. The team’s success was headlined by Sunil Narine’s impressive all-round show, who was named the ‘Most Valuable Player’ of the season for his 488 runs and 17 wickets.
Yet much has changed since their win in 2024. Mentor Gautam Gambhir who joined the team ahead of the season in 2024 left right after the team’s successful campaign after his appointment as the coach of the national side. The team was unable to retain their title winning captain Shreyas Iyer as well and released him ahead of the auction. The team however retained a strong core of the title winning unit but made some questionable choices at the auction table. They splurged more than 23 crores to get back their Vice captain Venkatesh Iyer. However, when it came to picking a captain ahead of the new season, the franchise went in the direction of 36-year-old Ajinkya Rahane whose IPL career has been on a downslide in the last few barring one good season in 2023. The team also got Dwayne Bravo to fill in the big boots of Gautam Gambhir. While their fans will be eager to see if they can replicate their 2024 success and bring home another championship title, the team hardly looks like a strong contender at this point.
Brief History of Kolkata
With the iconic Eden Gardens as its base, Kolkata was one of the eight original teams of the Indian Premier League. Owned by Bollywood celebrities Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, and her husband Jay Mehta, the team experienced a transformative journey since its inception. Initially, despite all the razzmatazz, the team struggled under captains like Sourav Ganguly and Brendon McCullum. However, their fortunes changed with the appointment of Gautam Gambhir as captain in 2011, marking their first playoffs appearance. This momentum led to their first IPL title in 2012 when they defeated Chennai and halted their dream of a hat-trick of titles. Sunil Narine, who was a new mystery spinner on the block proved to be the team’s game changer in 2012. The franchise repeated this success in 2014 and equalled Chennai for most number of titles.
The following years saw mixed results, but Kolkata continued to show promise, although that promise often translated into an eventual 6th position finish. In 2021, under Eoin Morgan’s captaincy, the team scripted a memorable turnaround after a dismal start to their campaign and reached the final. However, this time Chennai prevailed. The team’s leadership changed again when Shreyas Iyer took over in 2022. He was injured in 2023, leading to Nitish Rana being made the captain. However, Shreyas’ return in 2025 led Kolkata to their third IPL title in 2024. This campaign was particularly notable for being one of the most dominant in IPL history, with Sunil Narine winning his third MVP award.
