Stationed at number 4 and 5 respectively, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are two teams whose managements are extremely different in strategies.
Chennai, in-spite of having lost a game more than KKR, are still far more consistent with their playing 11. Dhoni’s side has just seen forced changes due to injuries, while Dinesh Karthik and KKR have made plenty of changes to their squad as well as the batting order. We saw the returns of this in the last game, when Chennai destroyed the Kings XI Punjab in a 10-wicket victory.
In-spite of a lower position on the points table, CSK would the team that walks into the game with more confidence than their opponents.
Pat Cummins and Deepak Chahar, the leaders of the pace attack of KKR and CSK respectively, would want to draw inspiration from what Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah did with the new ball at this very stadium yesterday.
CSK’s only concern would be their sub-par performance as a fielding unit, which stood out as a weakness in an otherwise convincing win over Kings XI in the last game.
KKR have a lot to think about. Do they want to continue opening with Sunil Narine? Should Karthik take on the role of a finisher? Should Russell play one game at number 3 to get a good innings under his belt? Where should Rahul Tripathi bat? These are just some of the questions that would be on the captain’s mind.
Kuldeep’s axing and Rahul Tripathi’s inclusion does give the side a better balance. Varun Chakravathy’s current form would likely give him an edge over Kuldeep for the time being. The premier spinner has looked out of touch ever since IPL 2019.
Both the teams are unlikely to make any changes to the playing 11. Kolkata though, are sure to make a few changes to their batting order.
Likely 11s:
KKR: Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (c, wk), Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins, Rahul Tripathi, Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Varun Chakravarthy.
CSK: Faf du Plesiss, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c, wk), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Piyush Chawla, Deepak Chahar.
