Kolkata Knight Riders’ head coach Chandrakant Pandit is bracing up to challenges as his team approach IPL-18 that begins on March 22 in Kolkata. “Every year, there are new challenges. First is to defend the title. The other challenge is to build a squad with a proper combination, though we have our core group intact. I’m looking forward to this year’s big challenge to retain the IPL trophy,” Pandit told mid-day on Sunday. Challenges notwithstanding, the former India wicketkeeper-batsman is upbeat over KKR retaining the trophy.  While KKR’s IPL-17 winning captain Shreyas Iyer will lead Punjab Kings this time, KKR retained all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer for Rs 23.75crore, making him the most expensive player in their line-up.  

“We have a few new players, who were not part of the title-winning team last season. To understand each other will be quite important as they have played for different franchises earlier and now are part of our team. “IPL is always a very competitive tournament and we can’t say any team is weak. It’s a challenge for all teams, because all have new players through the mega auction,” Pandit said. When asked about KKR’s core group and who will lead them this year, Pandit said: “We have players like Ajinkya [Rahane], Venkatesh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh and Harshit Rana. I am confident they will help the team perform well this time also.