The Kolkata Knight Riders, (KKR) the reigning IPL champions, have begun their 18th season preparations with a week-long training camp in Mumbai. In March, they will begin their Kolkata leg of the main pre-tournament camp. Bringing together their key domestic talent for seven days of intensive training and team-building exercises is the goal of the ongoing program.
With an emphasis on gaining early momentum before the forthcoming season, the camp, which takes place from February 21 to 28, includes nine of KKR’s domestic players.
Along with Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Vaibhav Arora, and others, Venkatesh Iyer is in the front of the group. Young players like Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who had a stellar 2024 first season, and newcomers Mayank Markande and Luvnith Sisodia are also present at the camp.
In addition to specialized strength and conditioning sessions, skill training in the nets, match simulation exercises, and team-building exercises, the training camp is supervised by head coach Chandrakant Pandit and his support staff.
The available players who aren’t playing domestic cricket have joined us for our brief preseason training session. We do this every season as part of our routine. The international players who are available after the ICC Champions Trophy will also be at our camp in Kolkata starting on March 12. This camp will help us establish a rhythm, but when the entire squad comes together, that’s when our real training will begin. We are confident because we have our core group intact, and I have no doubt that our combinations will be as powerful as they were the previous season with the guys we brought in (at the Auction),” head coach Chandrakant Pandit said.
“We have a lot of nets and a lot of match simulation planned for the next few days,” added spin bowling coach Carl Crowe. Thus, the majority of the group has a chance to reunite. It’s nice to see both some new faces and several well-known men here. Keeping the team fresh is crucial. Of course, we had a great year the previous year, but you have to keep thinking about how to move forward. Everyone is quite anticipating the entire competition.
Along with bowling coach Bharat Arun, strength and conditioning coach Sagar V, and head physio Prasanth Panchada, the coaching staff at the camp will also include spin bowling coach Carl Crowe, guaranteeing the players receive professional direction in all facet of their training.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Ramandeep Singh, Vaibhav Arora, Anukul Roy, Manish Pandey, Luvnith Sisodia, Mayank Markande, and Venkatesh Iyer are among the remaining local players in the camp. The season opening for KKR’s TATA IPL 2025 campaign will take place at the Eden Gardens on Saturday, March 22, precisely one month later, against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.