Kolkata to rely on 19-year-old star: KKR’s probable XI vs GT in IPL 2023 | Cricket
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) on 29 April at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. KKR got back to winning ways in the last game with a win against RCB in Bangalore after four consecutive losses in their last four matches. Having lost five of their eight matches so far and won only three, KKR are seventh out of ten on the points table.
After losing to Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the opening game. Kolkata Knight Riders comfortably beat RCB at the Eden Gardens and then won their second match as they defeated Gujarat Titans (GT) by three wickets in a thrilling encounter at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The batsmen could not replicate their heroics against SRH as they lost by 23 runs while chasing a target of 228 in Kolkata. KKR then lost to Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede. KKR then lost to DC by four wickets in Delhi. KKR made it four consecutive defeats as they lost to CSK by 49 runs as they were unable to chase down the mammoth target of 236. Last time around, KKR got a much-needed win by defeating RCB at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Jason Roy’s blistering 56 (29) and skipper Nitish Rana’s 21-ball 48 took KKR to 200/5. Varun Chakravarthy (3/27) and Suyash Sharma (2/30) spun a web around the RCB batsmen as KKR restricted RCB to 179/8 and won by 21 runs.
Jason Roy and N Jagadeesan opened the batting for KKR against RCB and for the first time this season, the KKR middle-order did not have to rush as Roy and Jagadeesan added 83 runs for the opening partnership. Roy has been a revelation since coming into the KKR side, scoring 160 runs in just three matches including two half-centuries. Venkatesh Iyer has scored 285 runs so far this season. Rinku Singh and captain Nitish Rana supported him by scoring 251 and 229 runs respectively.
The spinner has been the highest wicket-taker for KKR this season. Sunil Narine, Varun Chakraborty and Suyash Sharma have taken 28 wickets with an economy of 8. Russell has also taken 5 wickets, but has given a lot of runs. He has had a tremendous season so far with the bat as well. The seamer has been going heavy this season so far and has been smashing it all over the park. Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Shardul Thakur and Kulwant Khejroliya have taken only 8 wickets so far.
Shardul Thakur was recently replaced in the playing XI by Kulwant Khejrolia and Khejrolia was also replaced by Vaibhav Arora in the last game. It seems that it does not matter which seamer KKR picks in the playing XI as they all leak runs. David Wiese has been preferred as the fourth overseas substitute in the last few matches and is expected to remain in the line-up.
Impact Player: If KKR bat first, then Suyash Sharma can be fielded as an impact player in the second innings. Whereas, Venkatesh Iyer can be brought in as an impact player if they field first.
Openers: Jason Roy, N Jagadeesan (wk).
Middle order: Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer.
All-rounders: Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, David Wiese.
Bowlers: Vaibhav Arora, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakraborty.
