‘Smart’ KKR is attempting to ‘fill those boxes on the go’ in order to remain competitive.

In IPL 2025, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have not only not lost back-to-back games, but they have also not won two straight. According to Sanjay Bangar, they have made the required adjustments to the team after every loss—three so far, with three victories—and that has allowed them to remain relevant. Bangar attributes the defending champions’ current third-place standing on the points table to KKR “slowly and steadily trying to learn from the mistakes” and accomplishing “on the go” checklists.

They added Moeen Ali as their third spinner against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Friday night in the hopes that his offspin would provide a solid matchup against a team that was dominated by left-hand batsmen.

Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, and Moeen took six wickets between them in 12 overs to choke CSK and stop them at 103 for 9, proving that they were no match for KKR’s spinners.

Bangar was also thrilled with Rinku Singh’s elevation to No. 4. In order to make room for Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who enters as the Impact Sub at No. 4 or 5, depending on the circumstances of the match, Rinku has started starting at No. 6 or 7. Rinku had little work to do on Friday as he finished undefeated with 85 for 2 (15 off 12).

Bangar stated, “They picked the right squad,” on the TimeOut program on ESPNcricinfo. “They were extremely cautious about the fact that they had waited till the very end in the last game [against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)] by making the mistake of delaying Rinku Singh. He was promoted to the fourth position [against CSK]. Thus, it is evident that they are aware of their errors.

“They played Angkrish in the earlier games, just like in the previous cases. They felt they made the right decision by keeping him on the bench rather than immediately starting him in the XI when they were batting first. As a result, they are working as a team to fill those boxes while gradually learning from their failures and what needs to be done on the fly.

“And that is always a strategy that smart teams do because they don’t really want to linger on to their mistakes for far too long.”

In addition to scoring 3 for 13 in his four overs on Friday, Narine was outstanding with the bat, leading the way with an 18-ball 44 to help KKR complete the chase in only 10.1 overs. Both Varun, KKR’s top wicket-taker with eight IPL scalps, and his opening partner Quinton de Kock, who had only batted against Narine till last season, had something positive to say about the all-rounder.

“The main factor contributing to their value is the variety they offer. Both of them are mystery spinners, of course,” de Kock remarked following the match. Thus, it constantly muddles things. Certain spin bowlers are difficult to line up like that, in my opinion, because you can never be sure what you’ll get. They bowl well in addition to possessing that level of expertise. I believe Sunny takes great delight in the regions he bowls. Varun also does. They’re constantly attempting to improve and improving their games. Naturally, Sunny adds the X-factor when he bats.

“Every bowler, in my opinion, is aware that he will come hard. And he practices a lot, you know. He’s at practice all the time. Even when it comes to optional practices, I don’t believe he has ever missed any. He puts a lot of effort into it. And it’s fantastic when it comes off, you know. It indicates that the team will start out quickly. He thus truly elevates that X-factor to the highest level.