2-time Indian Premier League (IPL) winners, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are one of the most successful and popular franchises in the history of this league. The popularity quotient is largely because of the Principal Owner of KKR, Shah Rukh Khan, who is a popular Bollywood superstar.
KKR was captained by Sourav Ganguly and Brendon McCullum in the first 3 seasons and after they failed to get the desired results for the franchise, the entire team was sacked. The Knights then acquired the services of Gautam Gambhir in the IPL 2011 auction for a whopping amount of Rs. 11.04 crores.
He was the highest-paid player in that auction and he lived up to his unreal expectations. KKR had won 2 IPL titles under his astute captaincy; in 2012 and in 2014.
Despite not having superstars in their team, KKR has consistently played well in the Indian Premier League. But there have been a few players who have been forgotten by everyone and have slipped off the radar.
In this article, we take a look at 3 forgotten players of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL):
1. Lakshmi Ratan Shukla
A legend from Bengal, Laxmi Ratan Shukla was a part of the KKR franchise till 2013. He also represented Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2014. He played a total of 13 matches in IPL 2008 and was a regular in the side of Sourav Ganguly.
His most notable game for KKR was in IPL 2009, when he smashed an unbeaten knock of 48* runs in 46 balls against Rajasthan Royals in Match 53. Shukla deservedly bagged the player of the match in that game.
2. Tatenda Taibu
Not a lot of people remember this cricketer from Zimbabwe. Tatenda Taibu, who was a wicketkeeper of Zimbabwe, had represented Kolkata Knight Riders in 2008. He had represented KKR under the stewardship of Sourav Ganguly in the inaugural season of this cash-rich tournament.
The pocket-sized dynamite played 3 innings for the Knights and had a poor outing with the willow. He had scored 31 runs with a highest score of 15. Tatenda Taibu had called it quits from cricket at the early age of 29.
3. Manvinder Bisla
All KKR aficionados remember Manvinder Bisla’s epic knock of 89 runs under pressure in the IPL 2012 finals versus Chennai Super Kings (CSK). It was the bedrock of KKR’s innings in that game and it was a knock filled with class and composure.
Bisla had played 39 matches in IPL and had amassed 798 runs at an average of 21. He had scored 213 runs in 7 games in that title-winning year of Kolkata Knight Riders.
Also read: 3 Reasons Why Jasprit Bumrah Can Go Down As One Of The Best All-Format Players
