IPL 4 Final Four ( IPL 4 Qualifier ) Teams Profile: Kolkata Knight Riders

The Kolkata Knight Riders burst onto the IPL 4 season as refreshingly talented and ready to win it. They need to shake off how they finished at the end of the IPL 4 league stage and get that inspiration and those first emotions if they are to prevail all the way to the IPL 4 final in Chennai.

kolkata knight riders celebrate

The Kolkata Knight Riders have more than enough talent to win themselves their first IPL trophy. They may not have finished where they would have wanted to - at the top - in the IPL 4 points table. But they should know that if they could sustain their momentum long enough, the prize is not far away.

In Gautam Gambhir, the Kolkata Knight Riders have their captain with the blazing bat. Gambhir has proved that balancing captaincy and batting is not as gruelling as one would think. Given his own skill and temperament, if the team can lift off on his shoulders, victory is guaranteed.

Jacques Kallis has shrug off in style suggestions that he was not a Twenty20 batsman. Instead, he proved with remarkable consistency at the start of the IPL 4 season that powerhouse players like him can not only adapt but also, impact tremendously the fortunes of the team. Kallis' force will be required once more and amplified for the benefit of the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Having Brett Lee in the team is a foregone conclusion that he is going to have to shoulder the responsibility of the spearhead. He may also need to put a comforting, nurturing hand on Laxmipathy Balaji's shoulder to ensure that he has his bowling partner working in tandem. Rajat Bhatia may also become relevant given his form against the Mumbai Indians and they will need to think of the option of Mark Boucher and whether the wicket keeper batsman will actually become an asset in this crucial stage of the tournament.

What is greatly heartening for the Kolkata Knight Riders has to be the young spinner, Iqbal Abdulla, who has been a huge player in terms of performance for them, consistently picking wickets and making life hard on the batsmen. The KKR team should be warned that they will need to keep it normal for Abdulla because nerves is something the team cannot afford at this stage with a couple of matches to conquer before the IPL 4 final is upon them.

After three dismal seasons and the emphatic manner they started, the Kolkata Knight Riders owe it to themselves to finish on a high.