Pat Cummins is injury-prone, but he is the most promising young fast bowler in the world today. Alexander Joe / AFP
Pat Cummins is injury-prone, but he is the most promising young fast bowler in the world today. Alexander Joe / AFP

IPL 7 team guides: Kolkata Knight Riders



Coach Trevor Bayliss

Last season 7th

Best season Winners 2012

Secret weapon

Pat Cummins On the second day of the auctions, KKR picked up potentially the bargain buy of the tournament. The Australian is probably the most promising young fast bowler in the world today and they got him for US$166,500 (Dh611,566). The snag is that Cummins is injury-prone but, if he hits his straps during the tournament, he could be a real X-factor in a pretty strong squad.

Best Indian players

Gautam Gambhir He may be out of the Indian squad at the moment, but the captain remains one of the scene's most tenacious openers.

Yusuf Pathan He no longer has the aura he had two seasons ago, but on his day remains the most brutal hitter of a cricket ball in the league.

Piyush Chawla Another India reject who does not look as good as Amit Mishra, but Chawla will make up those small percentages in a game.

Foreign contingent

Chris Lynn (Australia) A young and already well-travelled batsman, Lynn has so far played only one IPL game across two seasons and for two franchises.

Jacques Kallis (South Africa) Now freed from Test cricket, the greatest modern-day all-rounder is the headline recruit this season.

Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh) Bangladesh's best player is important on and off the field for the franchise.

Sunil Narine (West Indies) KKR's best recruit over the past two seasons. Much will again rest on him.

Morne Morkel (South Africa) Doubts may linger about how suited he is to this format in particular, but Morkel on fire is a weapon.

Pat Cummins (Australia) Fiercely quick, intelligent and young, Cummins could be the key buy for the franchise this season.

Ryan ten Doeschate (Netherlands) The only associate level player in the IPL and, on balance, probably the best from that level.

Andre Russell (West Indies) A handy, journeyman all-rounder, Russell may be low-key by nature, but not so by deed.

One thing you probably did not know about KKR

No KKR batsman has scored an IPL hundred since the first IPL game in 2008. That day, Brendon McCullum lit up the occasion with an outlandish 73-ball 158 against Royal Challengers Bangalore. That remains, according to a 2012 statistical analysis by ESPNcricinfo, the best innings in IPL history. The highest score since is 93 by Gautam Gambhir.

Paul Radley’s chocolate comparison

If they were chocolate they would be ... a Willy Wonka Bar wrapped in gold. They were supposed to be the dream ticket. Hasn’t happened yet. Charismatic owner, if a little eccentric.

osamiuddin@thenational.ae

Follow our sports coverage on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE

North Pole stats

Distance covered: 160km

Temperature: -40°C

Weight of equipment: 45kg

Altitude (metres above sea level): 0

Terrain: Ice rock

South Pole stats

Distance covered: 130km

Temperature: -50°C

Weight of equipment: 50kg

Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300

Terrain: Flat ice
 

Schedule
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ENovember%2013-14%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abu%20Dhabi%20World%20Youth%20Jiu-Jitsu%20Championship%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENovember%2015-16%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbu%20Dhabi%20World%20Masters%20Jiu-Jitsu%20Championship%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENovember%2017-19%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abu%20Dhabi%20World%20Professional%20Jiu-Jitsu%20Championship%20followed%20by%20the%20Abu%20Dhabi%20World%20Jiu-Jitsu%20Awards%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Stage results

1. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep  4:39:05

2. Michael Matthews (AUS) Team BikeExchange 0:00:08

3. Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma same time 

4. Jack Haig (AUS) Bahrain Victorious s.t  

5. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe s.t  

6. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates s.t 

7. David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ s.t

8. Sergio Higuita Garcia (COL) EF Education-Nippo s.t     

9. Bauke Mollema (NED) Trek-Segafredo  s.t

10. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers s.t

Venom

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed

Rating: 1.5/5

RACE CARD

6.30pm Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,200

7.05pm Handicap Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m

7.40pm Maiden Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m

8.15pm Handicap Dh190,000 (D) 1,600m

8.50pm Handicap Dh175,000 (D) 1,400m

9.25pm Handicap Dh175,000 (D) 2,000m

 

The National selections:

6.30pm Underwriter

7.05pm Rayig

7.40pm Torno Subito

8.15pm Talento Puma

8.50pm Etisalat

9.25pm Gundogdu

Brief scores:

Liverpool 3

Mane 24', Shaqiri 73', 80'

Manchester United 1

Lingard 33'

Man of the Match: Fabinho (Liverpool)

MATCH INFO

Sheffield United 3

Fleck 19, Mousset 52, McBurnie 90

Manchester United 3

Williams 72, Greenwood 77, Rashford 79

NYBL PROFILE

Company name: Nybl 

Date started: November 2018

Founder: Noor Alnahhas, Michael LeTan, Hafsa Yazdni, Sufyaan Abdul Haseeb, Waleed Rifaat, Mohammed Shono

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Software Technology / Artificial Intelligence

Initial investment: $500,000

Funding round: Series B (raising $5m)

Partners/Incubators: Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 4, Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 6, AI Venture Labs Cohort 1, Microsoft Scale-up 

COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs

Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel

Power: 579hp

Torque: 859Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh825,900

On sale: Now

Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site

The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013