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| Kolkata Knight Riders-IPL season 2011 |
And when Brendon McCullum stormed into the competition with a whirlwind 158*, it drew a collective gasp of admiration from fans of the sport across the world. Calcutta’s hero Sourav Ganguly helmed the side while John Buchanan powered the think-tank in its first run.
But the team could not live up to expectations, failing to qualify for the knockout stage in the first three editions of the IPL.
A dramatic makeover followed. The Knight Riders made the two most expensive signings at the IPL Player Auction 2011, buying Gautam Gambhir at USD 2.4 million, Yusuf Pathan at USD 2.1 million and Jacques Kallis at USD 1.1 million.
Brad Haddin, Brett Lee, Ryan ten Doeschate, Shakib Al Hasan, L Balaji and Manoj Tiwary were the other names enlisted at the auction. But it is the uncapped Indian players – Rajat Bhatia, Pradeep Sangwan, Shreevats Goswami and Iqbal Abdulla – that give the Knight Riders the appearance of a well-rounded side, capable of turning things around this edition.
| bowlers | batsmen | all rounders | icket keeper | support staff | |
| MS Bisla |  | ||||
| Laxmipathy Balaji | Gautam Gambhir | Yusuf Pathan | SP Goswami | ||
| Pradeep Sangwan | Eoin Morgan | Jacques Kallis | Brad Haddin | Wasim Akram | |
| SS Ladda | LR Shukla | Andrew Leipus | |||
| Iqbal Abdulla | Shakib Al Hasan | Adrian Le Roux | |||
| Jaidev Unadkat | Ryan ten Doeschate | A. R. Srikkanth | |||
| Adrian Le Roux | ||||
| Shami Ahmed | Arvind Kumar | ||||
| Joy Bhattacharjya |
