New dawn for Knights

Parting ways with the leader who spearheaded them two Indian Premier League titles, Kolkata Knight Riders will be stepping into a new horizon sans Gautam Gambhir.

The first thing that hit everyone at the end of the IPL auction in February was that the team lacked a recognise leader. The Knights decided to show their faith in in-from wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik.

The Chennai-born player became the toast of the nation after scoring a last-ball six in the India-Bangladesh humdinger in Colombo last month.

The new skipper has already hinted on promoting himself in the batting order but he is still not a Gambhir who could anchor the innings up front for the Knights. So a lot would be expected from the Aussie opener Chris Lynn who capped off in the Bigh Bash League with a fine form for Brisbane Heat.

With the likes of Robin Uthappa, Skipper Karthik and Nitish Rana featuring in the middle order, the team still lacks batting depth

KKR's home ground Eden Garden has always been on the slower side and has assisted spin bowlers regularly. So having three spinners in Piyush Chawla, SunilNarine and Kuldeep Yadav among their cavalry, Knights would wary any batting order.