KKR match schedule 2020: Kolkata Knight Riders full schedule & time table for IPL 2020

Two-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions KKR will begin their IPL 2020 campaign against the Mumbai Indians on September 23rd at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

The Kolkata franchise’s IPL journey has seen many crests and troughs over the years. Despite having an incredibly strong side comprising Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, Ricky Ponting, Brad Hodge, KKR could not better sixth position across the first three seasons.

A major reshuffle happened post that as Jacques Kallis, Brett Lee, Yusuf Pathan, Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey were signed, with Gautam Gambhir as captain.

And, the purchases were vindicated almost immediately as KKR made the playoffs for the first time in 2011. They further went on to win two IPL trophies in three years (2012 & 2014) to cap off a fantastic run for the team.

2018 saw their long-standing captain Gambhir move to the erstwhile Delhi Daredevils with Dinesh Karthik taking over the reins of KKR. There was another major transformation as the KKR management invested heavily in youth.

Stars of India’s 2018 U-19 World Cup-winning side like Shubman Gill, Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti came into the KKR squad. They made the playoffs in 2018, had a great start to IPL 2019 but tapered off in the latter half to finish fifth in the table.

Thus, at IPL 2020, KKR are aiming to plug the holes that emerged last year. A major weak link has been their bowling attack and KKR bought Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins in at the IPL 2020 auction for a whopping ₹15.5 crore.

Another aspect which came to everyone’s notice was the side’s over-reliance on Andre Russell. The management, thus, shelled out ₹5.25 crore for England’s World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan to strengthen that particular area.

They have also released some players such as Robin Uthappa and Piyush Chawla, with the pair not quite able to contribute to the team, in recent years.

Thus, KKR would look to put their best foot forward at IPL 2020 and hope that they translate the talent that exists in their ranks into performances.

KKR’s IPL 2020 timetable

KKR timetable for IPL 2020. Image Credits: Srinjoy Sanyal

Kolkata Knight Riders squad for IPL 2020

Dinesh Karthik (C), Andre Russell, Harry Gurney, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Rinku Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Siddhesh Lad, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins, Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy, M Siddharth, Chris Green, Tom Banton, Nikhil Naik

IPL 2020 will be played behind closed doors across three venues – Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, and will start from September 19th. The final, meanwhile, has scheduled for November 10th.

All matches during IPL 2020 will start 30 minutes prior to usual timings, meaning that evening games will commence at 7:30pm IST whereas the afternoon matches will begin at 3:30pm IST.