Last-year's runner-up Kolkata Knight Riders missed out on a playoff berth this season. Let's take a look at how this edition unfolded for the Knights.
Chitrangada Chaudhuri
Letting go off former skippers Dinesh Karthik and Eoin Morgan ahead of the auction, Knights put their faith in Shreyas Iyer.
But throughout the season KKR struggled to find their playing XI. The Knights were the team to make the maximum number of changes to their first XI this season.
Winning Start
Last season's finalists KKR avenged their loss as they defeated defending champions CSK in the opener.
Though not pegged as favourites ahead of the season, KKR showed mettle when they bounced back from a loss to RCB, to notch back-to-back wins.
Losing Run
But five losses on the trot in the middle hurt the Knights as they struggled to find their way back.
The Knights finished sixth on the points table having won six matches from 14 games.
Shreyas Iyer, who had successfully steered the Delhi Capitals to the playoffs, failed to lead from the front with Brendon McCullum and Abhishek Nayar calling the shots.
KKR drew a lot of flak for benching players like Pat Cummins and that reflected upon their season.
Iyer's frustration was also visible and the key issue for the Knights this season was their lack of a stable playing XIs. Too many cooks spoil the broth!
Moreover, with last season's star Varun Chakravarthy failing to impress, it further deepened their troubles.
Throughout the season, the Knights kept looking for their opening combination. Dropping Venkatesh Iyer and then bringing him back into the side too late hurt the batting line-up.
But though they endured a tough run this season, there were a few positives for the former champions.
Andre Russell was one of the key positives for the Knights, pulling them out of crunch situations. Russell's all-round show kept the team in the hunt.
Another big takeaway for KKR was Umesh Yadav who regained his form, pocketing 16 wickets, just one less than Russell, KKR's highest wicket-taker this season
Furthermore the emergence of the young Rinku Singh was a big positive for KKR and Indian cricket.
All in all, the constant chopping and changing and five straight losses was where KKR lost the plot.