Kolkata Knight Riders begin practice ahead of IPL, Dinesh Karthik to join them later this month

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Kolkata: Sans skipper Dinesh Karthik, two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Monday had their first practice session ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season at the Jadavpur University second campus ground in Salt Lake.

Newly-appointed captain Karthik became the toast of the nation after his crazy cameo of 28 not out from just eight balls, guiding India to a last-ball victory over Bangladesh in the Nidahas Trophy T20 tri-series final in Colombo on Sunday.

With five runs needed off the last ball, Karthik hit a six in quite dramatic fashion to seal the deal.

Karthik is likely to join the team later this month along with coach and former South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis.

There was no net session on Monday afternoon as the men in purple decided to start their pre-season training with light warm-up sessions.

A total of 11 players, including vice-captain Robin Uthappa, sweated it out.

The players included India`s Under-19 World Cup winning pair of Shubman Gill and Kamlesh Nagarkoti, pacer R. Vinay Kumar, leggie Ishank Jaggi and West Indies recruit Javon Searless.

KKR will begin their campaign at home against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on April 8.