Are KKR favourites going into the IPL final?
The Timeout crew thinks the two best teams of IPL 2024 have made it to the final, but who holds the edge between them?
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad. You couldn't wish for a more fitting end to IPL 2024. It's been a season of redrawn boundaries, and these two teams have done the bulk of the redrawing. Eight of the ten highest totals in IPL history have come in 2024, and these two teams have been responsible for five of those eight totals.
Over the course of the season, though, a difference between the two teams has become more and more apparent. SRH have batted with whirlwind intent despite having reasons to temper their approach: they possess arguably the most dangerous top order in the competition, but on days when they lose early wickets, issues with personnel and depth can hurt them.
KKR haven't had those issues. Their squad is designed to allow their batters to throw away every last vestige of caution. As they firmed up their place at the top of the league table, distancing themselves further and further from the chasing pack, it became clearer and clearer that they had built a squad that was as close to bomb-proof as any can get in the fickle world of T20.
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No matter what happens on Sunday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, it's unarguable that KKR have assembled one of the strongest squads in IPL history, not just from the point of view of personnel but also from that of laying out a template for franchises to learn from.
None of it happened overnight, because this has been the culmination of a long-term project.
More of the same, but better
KKR finished seventh on the league table in IPL 2022 and 2023. In both seasons, they gave off the sense of a team trying to play in an idealistic sort of way without quite having the resources to pull it off consistently. They were, to put it simply, an inferior version of what SRH have been in 2024.
KKR finished seventh on the league table in IPL 2022 and 2023. In both seasons, they gave off the sense of a team trying to play in an idealistic sort of way without quite having the resources to pull it off consistently. They were, to put it simply, an inferior version of what SRH have been in 2024.
Right through this auction cycle - and even the previous one, when Eoin Morgan and Dinesh Karthik captained them - KKR have batted in a markedly high-intent way. They have the highest attacking shot percentage (45.08)* of any team this season, and they've only carried on from where they left off in 2022 and 2023. Their attacking shot percentage over those two seasons (41.50) was also the best in the league. Delhi Capitals and SRH have batted like KKR this season, but it's a relatively new way of playing for both teams. This isn't the case for KKR.