Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals: Preview and likely 11

Rajasthan Royals (RR) who have managed to cross 200 in both of their games, would have to acclimate themselves to the conditions of the Dubai international stadium, which is vastly different from Sharjah.

Kolkata Knight Riders, who came back nicely after their loss against Mumbai Indians. Their top order clicked, Morgan filled in the shoes of a finisher, Pat Cummins turned up to the IPL. All in all, Dinesh Karthik walked out of the game a happy captain.

The bone of contention for KKR would be Kuldeep Yadav’s form. The marquee spinner has looked out of touch and it won’t take long for the ghosts of the last season to start haunting the spinner. It is highly unlikely for KKR to drop the spinner, as they have always given their players the long rope.

For RR, their main worry would be Jos Buttler, the explosive batsman has come into the tournament in lukewarm form. He failed to perform in the last game he played too. With Smith doing good as an opener, he is to continue accompanying the English batsman at the top.

Jaydev Unadkat is yet to take a wicket in the season and this would be playing at the back of the skipper’s mind.

Sanju Samson has been in the form of his life and Rahul Tewatia emerges as an unlikely hero in the last game.

The challenge in Dubai would be for the RR bowlers to deliver. While they have won their last two games owing to exceptional performances with the bat, Dubai’s conditions would need the bowlers to turn up and take the teams home. The fence won’t be as easy to clear.

Both Varun Chakravarthy and Kamlesh Nagarkoti did well in the last game, and are set to continue to be a part of the 11.

Likely XI:

RR: Steven Smith (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Sanju Samson, Robin Uthappa, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Tom Curran, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Ankit Rajpoot, Jaydev Unadkat

KKR: Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Kamlesh Nagarkoti