In a roller-coaster of a season, an inconsistent Kolkata Knight Riders will be keen to bounce back when it meets a consistent and top-placed Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens here on Monday.
After squandering a golden opportunity to garner two points against Punjab Kings in an away assignment, KKR must be concerned about its below-par totals and will seek to change its batters’ reckless approach.
Skipper Ajinkya Rahane, the only KKR batter to accumulate more than 200 runs, and Angkrish Raghuvanshi are the top two run-getters for the host. While Quinton de Kock, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh have the scope to improve their performances, Andre Russell and Ramandeep Singh need to overcome their lean patches.
KKR is likely to rely on its reliable Indian pace combination of Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora and the spin pair of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy. The inclusion of either Moeen Ali or Anrich Nortje will depend on the conditions.
Resting on four strong pillars — Sai Sudharsan (365 runs), Jos Buttler (315), captain Shubman Gill (215) and Sherfane Rutherford (201) — GT’s batting has been on fire. On his former home ground, Gill will be happy to lead GT to its sixth win.
Purple Cap owner Prasidh Krishna (14 wickets) along with R. Sai Kishore and Mohammed Siraj (11 apiece) form a potent attack. Leg-spinner Rashid Khan will be eager to help GT consolidate its 2-1 head-to-head record.
Fans can expect another high-scoring affair.
Published - April 20, 2025 07:12 pm IST
