Kolkata Knight Riders

And so if our coaches get opportunities to go to those environments, it actually allows us to adapt and help track our players around the world.

So Chris Donaldson, our trainer, for instance, he's been with Kolkata Knight Riders over in the IPL now for a number of years.

And so, you know, every IPL, Chris gets to see our players day in, day out, whenever they play opposition teams and things like that.

So it's really handy having someone like him in the environment.

I've prepared my own data sets and then I've solved them myself.

So Mr. Sharmaji, just to challenge you a little bit, to push back a little bit, one of the funny controversies, I don't know many people noticed or not in the IPL, was that certain teams were traveling more than others, right? You had Kolkata Knight Riders who seem to have covered on across different sources, 12,000 to 13,000 kilometers.

But at the same time, you have Gujarat Titans who seem to have covered 67,000 kilometers and obviously had a huge advantage of playing the playoffs in Narendra Modi Stadium.

How do you justify that from an IPL scheduling slash broadcastership point of view?

And of course, 100-plus test matches, all of that, uh, obviously helps.

Um, so I, I think that kind of went away with Gautam Gambhir because very similar to Stephen Fleming, he like coached KKR and has been involved in the One Day, uh, or in, in the white ball set up, uh, and, uh, has never really coached a, a red ball test team.

And the results-- I mean, not to say that all, all the results are his fault, but, um, you know, it, it certainly shows that his ideas of let's plug in a lot of all-rounders and, and, you know, flexible teams and all of that, which work-- usually work great in limited overs, um, yeah, just aren't the same in, in test cricket.

So, so it's, it's a really interesting cycle from that perspective.

It's an operating model.

Why now? MI finished ninth in IPL 2026, four wins in 14, and missed the playoffs again after opening with that chase against KKR.

Ryan Rickleton led with 448 runs.

Alakh Azanfar took 15.

Right

... uh, by KKR and then they didn't send a team to World Cup-

Yeah, true

... which really soured the relationship, I think.

So it's not just Antigua, it's Antigua and Barbados, or Barbuda, sorry.

And then the Knight Riders.

So, yeah.

John Daly here.

Oh, right.

Uh, but they really now, obviously they want to have a look at these privatized franchises, the NZ20, and this is, remember we started out with the IPL in India and you have like your Kolkata Knight Riders or whatever, and then you find out there's a, a Los Angeles Knight Riders and there's these other Knight Riders around the world as they move their franchises around.

So NZ20 probably heading more towards that.

That takes a lot of the contracting money off, off New Zealand Cricket and puts it into private ownership, uh, of the, of those private teams doing it.

Power move.

Uh, the owners of the IPL side Kolkata Knight Riders, KKR, would be interesting- interested in buying a stake in a new Hundred franchise if the competition, Feraz, expands to 10 sides.

See, I was umming and ahhing about this, but I think-

That's not an answer.

That tees up demand with scars.

In 2023, he had 190 runs in 11 games for Sunrisers Hyderabad despite that KKR hundred, and he said the criticism sent him into a rabbit hole on social media.

Does that dampen his market or just price in the risk?

It reframes it.

Mumbai Indians captain, huge name, but form and results dipped.

MI finished second last in 2026 with four wins.

KKR and CSK are reportedly circling, with LSG and RR linked too, though no breakthroughs yet.

Public trade prices would anchor the market, deter side arrangements, and sharpen cap discipline.