If you follow cricket and are a fan of IPL (Indian Premier League), it is impossible not to know about KKR, one of the prestigious league teams representing Kolkata.
Known as one of the leading professional T20 cricket teams, this season in 2025, the Kolkata Knight Riders have shown some amazing team players.
This article will cover details about the KKR Team 2025 players list, their roles, and more details about them. Read on further to find out!
About KKR – What is it?
Kolkata Knight Riders, stylized as KKR, is a professional IPLcricket team based in Kolkata, India. It was founded in 2008 and is currently co-owned by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan and actress Juhi Chawla along witgh her husband Jay Mehta. The home ground of the legendary cricket team is at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, which surprisingly can hold upto 68000 spectators and fans!
The franchise team has gained immense popularity more so due to its association with celebrity owners, and had qualified for the IPL playoffs for the very first time back in 2011. They went on to become the champions by 2012 when they held victory against the Chennai Super Kings in the finals. This feat was repeated for the second time in 2014 when they managed to defeat the Kings XI Punjab.
In 2024, KKR won the title for the third time by beating Sunrisers Hyderabad. As of now, the prestigious team holds the record for the longest winning streak held by any IPL team. It might interest you to know that the team’s all-time leading run-scorer is the renowned Gautam Gambhir, whilst their leading wicket-taker goes to Sunil Narine.
Kolkata Knight Riders Official Motto. Logo and Anthem
KKR has its official motto called ‘Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo’ which literally translates to ‘Perform, Fight, and Win’. They have in the past, also released an anthem with the same name.
The official colors of the team is represented by purple and gold, back in 2008, when the KKR team made its debut and was introduced for the first time, the logo of the team consisted of a blazing golden Viking helmet against a black background with the name of the team written in gold next to it.
However, changes and modifications have been made since then, and the current logo features a purple Corinthian helmet trimmed with gold borders that highlight the KKR name within a shield. This logo was modified in 2012 and has since stuck.
KKR Owners
As we already know, the prestigious Kolkata Knight Riders cricket team is jointly owned by Bollywood ‘badshah’, Shah Rukh Khan, and veteran actress Juhi Chawla along with her husband, Jay Mehta.
Khan currently holds the major control and has a major stake in the team, holding about 55%, whereas the Mehtas own about 45% of the team.
KKR Team History
Back in 2007, the Board of Control for Cricket in India or BCCI, had created the cricket tournament ‘Indian Premier League’ was based on the Twenty20 format of the game.
At that time, eight teams had participated in the inaugural tournament that was held in April to June 2008.
The teams represented the eight teams from different cities in India including:
Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Mumbai Indians ((MI), Delhi Daredevils (DD), Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), Deccan Chargers (DC), Rajasthan Royals (RR), Kolkata Knight Riders (KRR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
These teams were put on auction in Mumbai in 2008 and KKR was eventually bought by superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s company Red Chillies Entertainment in partnership with the Mehtas for a whopping price of $75.09 million which is equivalent to INR 2.98 billion back in those days!
Kolkata’s native cricketer, Sourav Ganguly who was also the former captain of the Indian national team, was made the Icon player for the team.
KKR team Valuation
According in a Forbes report in 2022, Kolkata Knight Riders is considered the 3rd most valuable team in the Indian Premier League, falling in line behind Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. The team stands at a valuation of $1.1 billion dollars. In 2025 the total valuation of KKR is Rs.109 crore and hold the 4th position in Richest IPL Cricket team 2025.
Breakup of the franchise team
Early Struggle Years (2008-2010)
During this period, the team had to go through many struggles under captains like Sourav Ganguly and Brendon McCullum. The team was unable to perform or win any matches and it finished poorly in the league.
Initial Success (2011 – 2012)
The team changed leadership to Gautam Gambhir, and with his guidance, supervision and overall leadership, KKR reached the playoffs for the very first time in 2011 and went on to win its first IPL title in 2012. They had defeated Chennai Super Kings in the finals that year.
Second Win (2014)
During this year, KKR was able to win their second IPL title in 2014 – and it was all under Gambhir’s captaincy that they were able to bring home another trophy!
Current Scenario (2021 – 2024)
The team has successfully reached their finals in 2021 – under Eoin Morgan but they lost to Chennai Super Kings. Last year in 2024, they won their third title under Shreyas Iyer’s leadership.
KKR Squad 2025: Full Squad List, Coach, Key Players
| Captain | Ajinkya Rane |
| Coach | Chandrakant Pandit |
| Owner | KKR Sports Private Limited |
| Venue | Eden Gardens, Kolkata. |
The new fresh season of 2025 is showcased by KKR’s entry with a strong core of retained players and strategic new additions with their vision and mission to feast on success from the previous year in 2024.
Retained Players
The KKR team has retained six of its star players for the current 2025 season
| Name | Value | Role |
| Rinku Singh | INR 13 crores | Batter |
| Varun Chakravarthy | INR 12 crores | Bowler |
| Sunil Narine | INR 12 crores | Bowler |
| Andre Russell | INR 12 crores | All-Rounder |
| Harshit Rana | INR 4 crores | Bowler |
| Ramandeep Singh | INR 4 crores | All-Rounder |
Released Players
Some of the notable players that have been released by KKR include:
| Player | Role |
| Shreyas Iyer | Batter |
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz | WK-Batter |
| Nitish Rana | Batter |
| Phil Salt | Batter |
| Sherfane Rutherford | All rounder |
| Manish Pandey | Batter |
| KS Bharat | Batter |
| Anukul Roy | All Rounder |
| Venkatesh Iyer | All Rounder |
Fresh additions to the team
- Venkatesh Iyer has been acquired for INR 23.75 crores, thus making him the single most expensive all-rounder in IPL history.
- Quinton de Kock was signed as an explosive opener and wicketkeeper at INR 3.6 crores
- Anrich Nortje, who is from South Africa, has been added to strengthen the bowling unit and is valued at INR 6.5 crores
- Rahmanullah Gurbaz who was signed for INR 2 crores.
- Vaibhav Arora retained for INR 1.8 crores
- Manish Pandey who was acquired for INR 75 lakhs
- Anukul Roy who was signed for INR 2 crores
- Moeen Ali who has been signed for INR 2 crores
- Spencer Johnson who has been acquired for INR 2.8 crores
KKR Squad 2025: Full Squad Details with Role
| Category | Player | Role |
| BATTING | Ajinkya Rane | Batter |
| Rinku Singh | Batter | |
| Quentin de Kock | WK-Batter | |
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz | WK-Batter | |
| Rovman Powell | Batter | |
| Luvnith Sisodia | Batter | |
| Manish Pandey | Batter | |
| BOWLERS | Anrich Nortje | Bowler |
| Vaibhav Arora | Bowler | |
| Mayank Markande | Bowler | |
| Spencer Johnson | Bowler | |
| Harshit Rana | Bowler | |
| Sunil Narine | Bowler | |
| Varun Chakravarthy | Bowler | |
| ALL-ROUNDERS | Venkatesh Iyer | All Rounder |
| Anukul Roy | All Rounder | |
| Moeen Ali | All Rounder | |
| Ramandeep Singh | All Rounder | |
| Andre Russell | All Rounder |
Conclusion
At the inception date, everyone had their doubts on the Kolkata team but over the years, it has proved itself to become one of the most valuable teams in the Indian Premier League. This goes on to say that KKR has come a long way from under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly aka, Dada – and has seen a sea of change in its playing style under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir.
Today, Kolkata Knight Riders is one of the most prestigious teams with three wins till date. We expect to see many more wins coming from this team!
FAQs
The team is co-owned by Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla with her husband, Jay Mehta.
As of 2022, the team has a valuation of $1.1 billion.
Andre Russell has been the best player in KKR and has been the ultimate game-changer for the team.
Venkatesh Iyer is the most expensive player in the KKR team as he was acquired for INR 23.75 crores.
