–Subhayan Chakraborty
Overview
When it comes to Indian Premier League (IPL) action, Eden Gardens is always a hot ticket. IPL 2023’s match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore is sure to be a thrilling event for cricket fans, with marquee names on both sides. KKR are looking to open their account in the tournament, while RCB will be seeking a second win on the trot.
The season is still young, but KKR will be desperate to turn things round after starting with a 7-run loss to Punjab by the DLS method. Although they had a chance to win, they lost two crucial wickets in the eight balls before rain interrupted play at the 16-over mark. While Andre Russell’s 35 off 19 balls showed some character and intensity, Kolkata were never really in control of the chase for 192. Russell enjoys taking on RCB and has smashed 395 runs against them in 13 innings at an average of 43.89 and strike-rate over 200.
Nitish Rana, KKR’s stand-in skipper, will need to step up in the absence of Shreyas Iyer, the regular captain, who has now been ruled out of the entire tournament. Jason Roy is unavailable for this match, and will join the team only before their next encounter against Gujarat Titans.
In contrast, RCB do not face such challenges, particularly in terms of captaincy. Faf du Plessis led his team to an impressive eight-wicket win over Mumbai Indians last Sunday, with contributions from Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell. However, the new-ball bowling is an immediate concern, as Reece Topley is out with a dislocated shoulder. David Willey could be a potential replacement, although he has not performed well in past editions of the tournament.
KKR have the edge in the head-to-head numbers, with 16 wins to RCB’s 14.
Venue and time
Eden Gardens, Kolkata. 7.30 PM IST.
Expected conditions and toss
Under the lights, expect the pacers to extract a bit of movement and bounce. It’ll be hard and flat with a tinge of grass, which has been the case at Eden Gardens for the last few years. Among the 2023 venues that hosted IPL matches in 2022, Eden Gardens had the highest powerplay average of 58. The captain who wins the coin flip should ideally opt to chase, especially when a bit of dew is likely to play a part in hot and humid conditions.
Possible XIs and Impact Player Watch
While Chandrakant Pandit might be tempted to bring in Narayan Jagadeesan in place of Mandeep Singh, it is likely they will retain the Punjab skipper in the XI. However, the move to bat Anukul Roy at No.3 didn’t come off. Roy didn’t bowl a single over and hence Venkatesh Iyer, who was the Impact Player in the last game, could be back in the XI, replacing him.
KKR Likely XI: Mandeep Singh, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK) Nitish Rana (C), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy.
Impact player: KKR, at Eden, could use either Vaibhav Arora, Kulwant Khejroliya or Harshit Rana given the seam-friendly conditions in Kolkata, before replacing them with a specialist batter or vice versa.
RCB Likely XI: Faf du Plessis (C), Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Michael Bracewell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (WK), David Willey, Harshal Patel, Akash Deep, Karn Sharma, Mohammed Siraj.
Impact Player: Though RCB were flawless with the bat in their opening contest and didn’t require their Impact Player, either of Suyash Prabhudessai, Anuj Rawat or Mahipal Lomror could be swapped in for Karn Sharma or Mohammed Siraj to increase their batting depth or vice versa.