Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2023: Rinku Singh stands tall in Kolkata's average campaign

Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2023: Rinku Singh was Kolkata's top performer in what was an average season for the two-time winners.

The two-time winners KKR finished at the seventh spot. Kolkata have some sporadic highs but couldn't be consistent enough to enter the playoffs. This became the second time in the trot where they failed to finish in the top-four.

With Shreyas Iyer being ruled out of the entire season, KKR had a litmus test ahead. Nonetheless, Nitish Rana did a decent job as a leader. While he couldn't take his side to the playoffs, he ended as his side's second-highest run-getter (13th overall) with 413 runs at 140.95. While he took some bizarre calls, he managed the team properly on the whole. He looked proactive on the field and tried to seize the moment whenever KKR were on the front foot.

Rinku Singh stood tall in Kolkata's average campaign and was easily their best performer all throughout. Rinku made the headlines when he slammed five successive sixes in the last over in KKR's famous win over defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) early this season. He didn't stop and ended with 474 runs at 149.52 -- being KKR's top-run getter -- with four half-centuries along with some more vital cameos. He made rapid strides in his career courtesy of his IPL 2023 blitz. 

Apart from Rinku, Varun Chakaravarthy came to his own as well. He ended with 20 scalps at a strike rate of 15.80. Debutant Suyash Sharma also became a consistent in KKR's spin trio -- also featuring Sunil Narine (who had a below-par run as per his standards) -- with ten scalps. 

KKR had quite a few exciting foreign players in their ranks. However, none of them dominated as they blow hot and cold. The likes of Andre Russell, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Narine, Jason Roy, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, etc. were KKR's overseas players. Among them, Russell, Narine, Gurbaz and Roy got maximum games. 

Russell scored 227 at 145.51 with no fifty. He ended with seven scalps as well. Narine accounted for 11 wickets at 7.97 but wasn't at his threatening best with teams either attacking or playing him out. Gurbaz showed glimpse of his talent with 227 runs but averaged a poor 20.64. Roy was inducted later in the playing XI and ended with 285 runs in eight games at 151.59. Mostly, all of them blew hot and cold, just like some experienced Indian campaigners such as Venkatesh Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, etc.

After KKR's loss in their last game of the league stage, Rana said at the post-match presentation, "Plenty of positives to take from this season and lots to improve as well. Will come back stronger next season. You need to do well in all three departments to compete and finish in the top 4 in the world's best league. I feel bad because we had the ability to qualify in the top four and we will work on mistakes and come back better next season."