Kolkata, April 1 Kolkata Knight Riders will be eager to see their spinners perform well against Sunrisers Hyderabad in an IPL match involving two strong batting teams on Thursday.
This match also marks a crucial phase for the three-time champions, who will play three matches in seven days and another on April 19 before the Kolkata leg pauses for nearly a month due to upcoming assembly elections.
With four away games to follow and their next home match scheduled only on May 16, KKR know it's important to build momentum during this phase.
Historically, Eden Gardens has been a strong ground for KKR, with 54 wins out of 95 matches since 2008.
However, KKR's start has faced some initial challenges, as expected, due to their limited bowling resources.
They have assembled a well-rounded pace attack, but injuries and availability issues have hampered their performance.
Harshit Rana and Akash Deep are unavailable, Matheesha Pathirana is still awaiting NOC from Sri Lanka Cricket, and Cameron Green, their Rs 25.20 crore overseas acquisition, is currently only available as a batter.
This lack of depth was clearly evident in their match against Mumbai Indians, where they failed to defend 220.
Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton put on a 148-run opening stand in just 72 balls, highlighting KKR's difficulty in restricting the scoring in the initial overs.
However, the main concern will be the performance of the spinners – Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy.
Chakravarthy went wicketless and conceded 48 runs, continuing his struggles since the latter part of the T20 World Cup, while Narine bowled only three overs and was introduced only after the Powerplay.
Green or Powell?
Green, who scored 18 off 10 balls, did not bowl due to workload management instructions from Cricket Australia.
With Green not bowling, it remains to be seen if KKR will consider bringing in Rovman Powell, given the West Indian's proven T20 credentials.
Powell scored 149 runs in the T20 World Cup at a strike rate of 147.52 and also has positive memories of Eden Gardens, having scored an unbeaten 34 off 19 balls in a Super Eight game against India.
While KKR reportedly requested a turning track, the pitch is expected to remain a sporting one, assisting both seamers and spinners, with 200 considered a par score.
This makes it essential for Narine and Chakravarthy to perform well.
Rahane's middle-overs struggle
KKR will take heart from captain Ajinkya Rahane's explosive start, but his middle-overs slowdown remains a concern.
Against Mumbai, Rahane scored 36 off 18 balls in the power play but then managed only 31 off 22 balls without a boundary.
This trend is consistent, as since IPL 2023, Rahane has been among the most effective power play batters, scoring 544 runs in 30 innings at an average of around 77.5 and a strike rate above 170.
However, in the middle overs (7–16), his strike rate drops sharply to 124 – a phase where KKR struggled against MI, missing 20-30 runs.
SRH's challenges
Sunrisers find themselves in a similar situation after starting their campaign with a loss to reigning champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
SRH boasts a strong top order comprising Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Travis Head.
However, their bowling looks vulnerable, especially in the absence of Pat Cummins, who is still recovering from an injury. They failed to defend 201 against RCB.
The Australian captain has resumed bowling in the nets and is targeting a comeback in the middle of the tournament, but for now, SRH must manage without their leader.
In the opener, bowlers like Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jaydev Unadkat, Harshal Patel and Eshan Malinga struggled to contain the opposition.
SRH will also expect more from their top order after Abhishek and Head fell cheaply in the previous game.
Teams:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh (vc), Finn Allen, Tejasvi Dahiya, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ramandeep Singh, Sarthak Ranjan, Tim Seifert, Rahul Tripathi, Daksh Kamra, Cameron Green, Sunil Narine, Rachin Ravindra, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Saurabh Dubey, Kartik Tyagi, Blessing Muzarabani, Navdeep Saini, Prashant Solanki and Umran Malik.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Ishan Kishan (c), Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Aniket Verma, R. Smaran, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Kamindu Mendis, Harshal Patel, Brydon Carse, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga, Zeeshan Ansari, Liam Livingstone, Shivam Mavi, Salil Arora, Shivang Kumar, Omkar Tarmale, Krains Fuletra, Praful Hinge, Amit Kumar, Sakib Hussain, Jack Edwards and Pat Cummins.
Match starts at 7:30 PM.
