How many times have KKR won the IPL? Kolkata Knight Riders team history, list of seasons, best players

Dominic Booth

How many times have KKR won the IPL? Kolkata Knight Riders team history, list of seasons, best players image

Kolkata Knight Riders were one of the eight teams who participated in the inaugural Indian Premier League back in 2008 and have been part of the tournament furniture ever since.

They've always been based at Eden Gardens and are owned by Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, and they have no shortage of supporters, being based in one of India's biggest cities.

But what about their history and success in the IPL dating back 15 years?

The Sporting News goes through the KKR history right here...

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How many IPL titles have KKR won? 

The Knight Riders have been IPL champions on two occasions, in 2012 and then again in 2014. Interestingly, on both occasions, they actually finished second in the table, before producing their best cricket in the playoffs.

KKR IPL history 

In 2012, KKR won eight of their final 10 matches, culminating in a victory over Chennai Super Kings – in Chennai – when they chased down a total of 192 in the final over to seal a dramatic first title. Manvinder Bisla hit an explosive 89 opening the batting to see KKR home; he won the player of the match award. Sunil Narine was named most valuable player of the tournament after a terrific time with the ball.

In 2014, Narine was again at the heart of things as KKR won their second IPL crown. Again they finished second in the table before victory over Kings XI Punjab in the final in Bangalore. Narine snared 21 wickets over the course of that year's tournament, while Robin Uthappa smashed more than 600 runs. The final was a dramatic three-run victory, with Manish Pandey hitting a match-winning 94 in 50 balls to chase down 200.

KKR haven't won a title since 2014, although they were beaten finalists in the 2021 tournament, losing out in the final to Chennai Super Kings.

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KKR list of IPL seasons

Year P W L T NR Win % Position
2008 14 6 7 0 1 46.16 6th
2009 14 3 10 0 1 23.07 8th
2010 14 7 7 0 0 50.00 6th
2011 15 8 7 0 0 53.33 4th
2012 18 12 5 0 1 70.58 Winners
2013 16 6 10 0 0 37.50 7th
2014 16 11 5 0 0 68.75 Winners
2015 14 7 6 0 1 53.84 5th
2016 15 8 7 0 0 53.33 4th
2017 16 9 7 0 0 56.25 3rd
2018 16 9 7 0 0 56.25 3rd
2019 14 6 8 0 0 42.86 5th
2020 14 7 7 0 0 50.00 5th
2021 17 9 8 0 0 52.94 2nd
2022 14 6 8 0 0 48.27 7th
Total 227 114 109 0 4 50.67 x2 Winners

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KKR best players

KKR have been captained by some high-profile international players over the course of their history.

Former India Test captain Sourav Ganguly led the franchise in the 2008 and 2010 seasons, with New Zealander (and now England head coach) Brendon McCullum in charge in 2009 – although both men were released by 2011.

India's Gautam Gambhir is KKR's all-time top run scorer, while it's no surprise that Sunil Narine – who has been with the franchise since 2012 – has the most wickets.

Other notable names to have represented the Knight Riders include Chris Gayle, Ricky Ponting, Shoaib Akhtar, Jacques Kallis, Eoin Morgan and Dinesh Karthik, the latter two having both had spells as captain. The current skipper is India middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer.


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Dominic Booth

Dominic Booth Photo

Dominic joined the Sporting News in November 2022, initially working on our World Cup coverage as a freelance sub editor. He was previously a sport content editor and Man United writer at the Manchester Evening News and is a regular at both Old Traffords, football and cricket.