KKR Become IPL 2024 Champions: Kolkata Knight Riders In Indian Premier League Over The Years

Pat Cummins won the toss and batted first only to see his batting unit falling like a pack of cards with the captain himself being the highest scorer with 24 runs. SRH could only muster 113 runs as they were all out in the final over.

The target was a walk in the park for KKR batters and they achieved the it in just the 11th over with 8 wickets in hand. With the win in the final, the Shreyas Iyer-led side are now on an eight-match unbeaten run.

Their last loss in the tournament was on April 26 against Punjab Kings. Since then they won six, including the final, and two games were washed out.

KKR have now become the third team after Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings to win three IPL titles. KKR's last title came a decade back under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir back in 2014. Before that, the left-hander had led KKR to their maiden IPL trophy in 2012.

Incidentally, Gambhir had just joined his former franchise ahead of this season as mentor.

KKR's success in the IPL has revolved around Gambhir, first as captain and now as mentor. Here is a look at how the third-most successful IPL franchise, KKR, has performed over the years.

IPL 2008

With Sourav Ganguly as captain KKR were assigned the first-ever IPL match against RCB.

KKR opened their IPL campaign on a high with a massive 140-run victory powered by the historic 158 not out from Brendon McCullum. They went on to win their second match too but after that the performance dipped sharply.

Winning just four of their last 12 matches, KKR ended up at sixth place.

6th among 8 teams

Highest scorer: Sourav Ganguly 349 runs

Highest wicket-taker: Umar Gul 12 wickets

IPL 2009

Brendon McCullum was appointed KKR captain for the 2009 season. They got their first win in the second match but went on an unprecedented 10-match winning streak after that.

With just three wins, KKR finished on the bottom with four points less than the next worst side.

8th among 8 teams

Highest scorer: Brad Hodge 365 runs

Highest wicket-taker: Ishant Sharma 11 wickets

IPL 2010

KKR appointed Ganguly captain again and KKR had an improved season. They ended up with seven wins and as many defeats but a negative net run rate meant they stayed out of top 4.

6th among 8 teams

Highest scorer: Sourav Ganguly 493 runs

Highest wicket-taker: Ashok Dinda 9 wickets

IPL 2011

KKR released Ganguly and brought Gambhir as their captain and the brave move took them to the playoffs. From their first nine games, KKR won six. Inconsistency thereafter saw them winning just 2 out of their last five.

Ultimately, a loss to MI in the Eliminator knocked them out of the tournament.

4th among 10 teams

Highest scorer: Jacques Kallis 424 runs

Highest wicket-taker: Iqbal Abdulla 16 wickets

IPL 2012

After a playoff finish in 2011, Gambhir's KKR climbed one more step and bagged its first trophy in 2012. After finishing second in league stage with 10 wins, KKR defeated holders CSK in Qualifier 1 and then in the final to lift their maiden IPL title.

In his debut season, Sunil Narine won the Player Of The Tournament award.

Champions

Highest scorer: Gautam Gambhir 590 runs

Highest wicket-taker: Sunil Narine 24 wickets

IPL 2013

Gambhir's KKR finally had a bad season and they lost 10 games out of 16. Narine again stood out with his bowling but KKR could not consistently win games.

7th among 9 teams

Highest scorer: Gautam Gambhir 406 runs

Highest wicket-taker: Sunil Narine 22 wickets

IPL 2014

After seven games, KKR had just two victories and no one would have thought then what was coming.

KKR won seven straight games to first finish in the top two and then won two more to lift the trophy. It remains the longest winning streak in the IPL and the best turnaround by any team.

Manish Pandey was the star as he helped KKR chase an improbable 200 against Kings XI Punjab in the final.

Champions

Highest scorer: Robin Uthappa 660 runs

Highest wicket-taker: Sunil Narine 21 wickets

IPL 2015

Two losses in their last two games crashed KKR's hopes in the 2015 IPL. They won seven and lost six while one of their match produced no result.

5th among 8 teams

Highest scorer: Robin Uthappa 364 runs

Highest wicket-taker: Andre Russell 14 wickets

IPL 2016

Gambhir led KKR to another playoff as the Kolkata-based franchise finished fourth in the league stage. A loss in the Eliminator to the eventual champions Sunrisers Hyderabad ended their 2016 campaign.

4th among 8 teams

Highest scorer: Gautam Gambhir 501 runs

Highest wicket-taker: Andre Russell 15 wickets

IPL 2017

In Gambhir's last season at KKR, his team was looking set to add another trophy but a late drop of form disrupted the left-hander's farewell.

In first 9 games, KKR won 7 but just 1 victory in the league stage thereafter saw them finish fourth. They defeated SRH in the Eliminator but ran into eventual champions MI in the Qualifier 2.

3rd among 8

Highest scorer: Gautam Gambhir 497 runs

Highest scorer: Chris Woakes 17 wickets

IPL 2018

After seven years of Gambhir at helm, Dinesh Karthik took over the reigns of KKR.

Although inconsistent early in the season, Karthik led his team into playoffs with three consecutive victories. KKR then defeated RR in Eliminator but SRH proved to be too good for them in the Qualifier 2.

3rd among 8 teams

Highest scorer: Dinesh Karthik 498 runs

Highest wickeet-taker: Kuldeep Yadav 17 wickets

IPL 2019

Karthik could have made two playoffs in two attempts had KKR beaten MI in their last league game.

An inconsistent season saw KKR gather only 12 points in the league stage and SRH with the same number of points sneaked into the playoffs with a better net run rate.

5th among 8 teams

Highest scorer: Andre Russell 510 runs

Highest wicket-taker: Andre Russell 11 wickets

IPL 2020

Dinesh Karthik was prelaced by Eon Morgan as the captain midway through the tournament. KKR fought hard and remained in contention for a spot with a win in their last game of the league stage.

However, three teams finished with 14 points and KKR's net run rate was the worst thus they were out of the top 4.

5th among 8 teams

Highest scorer: Shubman Gill 440 runs

Highest wicket-taker: Varun Chakravarthy 17 wickets

IPL 2021

With just one win in their first five games, KKR under Eon Morgan had the worst possible start. They needed another special turnaround and they got just that.

At the end of the league stage, KKR had reached to 14 points and their net run rate helped them sneak through to the playoffs.

They got past RCB in the Eliminator and then defeated DC in the Qualifier 2 to get into final after 7 years. But their dream run was ended by CSK in the final.

Runner-up among 8 teams

Highest scorer: Shubman Gill 478

Highest wicket-taker: Varun Chakravarthy 18 wickets

IPL 2022

Shreyas Iyer was brought at the auction for big money and made the captain but his first season did not bring expected results.

Six wins and eight losses saw them finish in the bottom half of the table. This was their worst finish since 2013.

7th among 10 teams

Highest scorer: Shreyas Iyer 401 runs

Highest wicket-taker: Andre Russell 17 wickets

IPL 2023

In absence of Iyer due to injury, Nitish Rana captained KKR in 2023 but it could not change their fortunes. Another poor season saw them finish seventh again with six wins and eight defeats.

7th among 10 teams

Highest scorer: Rinku Singh 474 runs

Highest wicket-taker: Varun Chakravarthy 20 wickets

IPL 2024

Gautam Gambhir returned to KKR after seven years this time as a mentor and IPL trophy returned in the Kolkata camp after a decade. Shreyas Iyer's captaincy along with an unforgettable season from Sunil Narine saw KKR lift the trophies in their most dominant display in tournament history.

Champions

Highest scorer: Sunil Narine 488 runs

Highest wicket-taker: Varun Chakravarthy 21 wickets