Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has shed light on the Kolkata Knight Riders’ strengths ahead of IPL 2026. Chopra picked KKR’s batting depth, explosive ability, and experience as their biggest strength for the upcoming season.
KKR have batters like Tim Seifert, Finn Allen, Cameron Green, Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, and Anukul Roy. Chopra reckons there will be more depth in KKR’s batting if they play Anukul Roy.
Roy scalped 18 wickets in 11 matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at an average of 15.39 for Bengal. Furthermore, he scored 303 runs in 10 innings at an average of 60.60 and a strike rate of 160.32.
“This team’s strength is its batting. There is a lot of depth, explosive ability, and experience in their batting. There is depth in batting till Rovman Powell. Anukul Roy, who was the Player of the Tournament in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, has had a fantastic season with both bat and ball. If you add him, a little more depth will be seen in batting,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
Chopra said KKR has a lot of opening options for the upcoming season.
“They have a lot of options for every slot, and there is so much crowd at the top that it seems like it’s a Park Street jam. Tim Seifert is there with Finn Allen, and then Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane and Cameron Green. All five of them want to open. They don’t want to play down the order,” he observed.
The renowned commentator said KKR has quality lower-middle-order batters for the 19th season.
“After that, you will see Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh and Rovman Powell in this team. They bat in the middle for sure, but there is a traffic jam at the top. So someone will have to bat off-position, and I haven’t even taken Sunil Narine’s name. Sunil Narine is also an opener. So you have half a dozen opening options,” Chopra elaborated.
On the other hand, Chopra picked KKR’s spin duo of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine as another strength.
“In bowling, their two spinners are outstanding. There is no doubt about it. Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy – wicket-takers, economical, perhaps the best spin combo, if you talk about only two,” he said.
Kolkata Knight Riders will begin their IPL 2026 campaign against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on 29th March.
