Kolkata Knight Riders have been prominent in having squads, which doesn't disappoint the tournament's fanatics with their gameplay. The previous edition was a massive success for the three-time winners, who broke their 10-year trophy drought by winning the event. They have been one of the most consistent teams, with an ardent fan base.

The Knight Riders are renowned for their quirky planning and approach at auctions, which sometimes do their best and occasionally spark considerable debate among fans. But in the end, they were able to create a team with a concoction of cricketing talent. That said, we examine the two major strengths and one weakness of the 2025 IPL squad of the defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders. 

Kolkata Knight Riders 2025 IPL Squad: Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Harshit Rana, Ramandeep Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Anrich Nortje, Quinton de Kock, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Spencer Johnson, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Moeen Ali, Vaibhav Arora, Rovman Powell, Ajinkya Rahane, Umran Malik, Manish Pandey, Anukul Roy, Luvnith Sisodia, Mayank Markande.

2 Strengths:

In-depth variety of overseas players

Kolkata Knight Riders primarily focused on obtaining experienced overseas campaigners, who have been prominent in the game's shortest format. Currently, they the Afghan prodigy Rahmanullah Gurbaz and the Caribbean duo of Sunil Narine and Andre Russell.

The three-time champions have bought Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje, Rovman Powell, Moeen Ali and Spencer Johnson; it is no surprise that the experience quotient in the tournament will play a pivotal role in strengthening the squad in the coming editions. Hence, the defending champions are up to showcase their potential and give their best to win their fourth title. 

Optimum mix of emerging and experienced bowlers

Continuing the previous section, the Knight Riders are helmed with the right combination of spinners and pacers. Spinners Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy hand you eight solid overs. Varun is one of the IPL’s best spinners. Varun and Narine's mystery spin would aid KKR, as both have had a memorable season with their spinmeister's abilities.

Regarding pacers, they have not repurchased Mitchell Starc. Now, they will avail themselves of the services of Anrich Nortje, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Andre Russell and Umran Malik, indicating a newly built face of the team's speed attack.

1 Weakness:

Lack of a promising captain

Kolkata Knight Riders parted ways with their champions captain, Shreyas Iyer, which was something no IPL fanatic was seeing coming. During the 2025 IPL Mega Auction, they tried to obtain KL Rahul for the captaincy spot, but Delhi Capitals edged past them for a colossal INR 14 Crores. Then, the Knight Riders decided to spend heavily on their reliable all-rounder, Venkatesh Iyer. A hefty INR 23.75 crore was spent on Venkatesh, who hasn't led in the IPL or at the state level, which is a tricky territory.

For now, Venkatesh Iyer is the potential skipper of KKR, as he has been with the side for several seasons, and another reason is his price tag. Other reports imply Ajinkya Rahane is another strong contender for the team's leadership spot. However, many have contrasting opinions on the team's captain's spot uncertainty and believe the management could have spent more on an experienced campaigner. Overall, this could be a significant weakness hindering the defending champions.