On Saturday, April 29th, the Kolkata Knight Riders will host the Gujarat Titans at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The two teams have had contrasting campaigns so far, with the Titans winning three out of four matches since their loss to KKR three weeks ago. KKR, on the other hand, only won once since that match and has been struggling to climb the points table, standing fourth from the bottom.
One of the highlights of the upcoming game will be the battle of wrist spinners between the two teams. KKR and GT are currently leading the charts for most wickets among wrist spinners in the IPL. However, the pace attack of both teams has also been instrumental in taking crucial wickets.
KKR has been short-staffed in the pace department, with overseas players Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson struggling to perform, and Shardul Thakur recovering from an injury. In contrast, the Titans’ Indian pacers, Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma, have bagged 16 wickets between them, along with Alzarri Joseph.
The arrival of Jason Roy has provided KKR’s batting department with a much-needed boost, with the English player fresh off a half-century in the previous game. However, KKR has been struggling to find a consistent opening partnership, having used six different combinations so far.
The Eden Gardens has been conducive to high-scoring matches, with four 200-plus totals in only six innings so far, and an average first innings score of 222. Although the team batting first has won all three matches at the venue, they were all evening games, and it remains to be seen if the conditions differ for the afternoon match.
For KKR, Shardul Thakur is likely to replace Vaibhav Arora, who struggled in the previous game. Shardul could prove effective against GT opener Shubman Gill, having dismissed him twice and conceding only 36 runs in 32 balls. Narine, who has dismissed Wriddhiman Saha four times, could be used early by KKR when they are bowling.
The Titans are likely to stick to the same combination that won them the last two matches, with Pandya as captain, and Nitish Rana as their focus against KKR’s star all-rounder, Andre Russell.
Probable XI:
Kolkata Knight Riders: N Jagadeesan (wk), Jason Roy, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, David Wiese, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy. Impact sub – Suyash Sharma.
Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya (c), Vijay Shankar, Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma.
