Why KKR will find it hard to defend their IPL title

The Kolkata Knight Riders took the hard road to becoming IPL champions. Once the laughing stock of the league – beset by infighting and mocked by the fake IPL player – they turned things around over the last two seasons and lifted the trophy in 2012. That’s actually the good news. The bad news is it gets even harder now. The defending champions head into the tournament in good spirits, according to allrounder Rajat Bhatia, but he also acknowledges that to “become champions it’s difficult, but to stay on top is more difficult”. [caption id=“attachment_681332” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Gautam Gambhir will have to inspire his team all over again. AP[/caption] That’s the challenge the team faces this year. Being the underdog gives a team something to rally around. Chasing a championship creates a common goal and there is always a hunger to win that first title. But winning satiates that hunger. It saps motivation and replaces desire with satisfaction. It also switches the underdog tag for a bulls-eye, as other teams now want to topple the champion from the top of the mountain. These conditions need a different mindset to overcome. Nick Saban, one of the best coaches in American college football, and someone who has led his team to back-to-back national titles, describes the effort of repeating as champion as having “the will to fight against yourself.” It is something that requires constant sacrifice. Larry Bird, one of the all-time greats in the NBA, would be out training the day after winning a championship because he knew the other teams would be gunning for him and his Boston Celtics. There was no time to enjoy the spoils of victory, no time to reflect on a job well done. There was only the need to refocus and reload for the next go-around. In a team sport it is even more difficult because all the players have to possess the same determination and drive to win again. And it takes a strong leader to push his teammates to prove themselves all over again. Michael Jordan, whose Chicago Bulls twice won three consecutive titles, was a master at cajoling and extorting his teammates to push themselves to their limits year after year. He refused to allow even the least important of the players on the team to slack off or take things easy. That’s without even factoring in things like injuries, which can derail a team’s chances in an instant. Delhi Daredevils, for example, have lost Kevin Pietersen and Jesse Ryder for the season, leaving a gaping hole in their batting. It is no coincidence that the only IPL team to be repeat champions is the Chennai Super Kings, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, possibly India’s best ever captain. The Super Kings also benefitted from being able to re-purchase most of their players in the 2011 auction, which gave them an edge over their rivals. The task is made harder for teams in the IPL because the players are scattered for most of the year. They have essentially a two-month window to come together as a unit and make a run at a title. Where KKR have an advantage is their captain – Gautam Gambhir. He is one of the most driven men in cricket and will be even more determined this year after losing his place in the Indian team. Derek Fisher, who played on a Los Angeles Lakers team that won three straight titles from 2001 to 2003, believes the difficulty of winning a second time around is why the teams that do are the ones that are remembered by history. If Gambhir and KKR can pull off the feat this season, they will join that list and transform KKR’s place in IPL history for good.