Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), a two-time champion, is set to play their first home game in IPL 2023 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the iconic Eden Gardens stadium. However, the team has to overcome a few obstacles before they step onto the field for KKR vs RCB match.
KKR faced a setback in the season’s opening game against Punjab Kings, where they lost in a rain-affected match. The team already faced an initial blow when Shreyas Iyer, their key player, was ruled out for the entire season due to a back injury. Now, experienced all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan’s unavailability has compounded their woes. But the KKR team management was quick to react and brought in Jason Roy for a sum of ₹ 2.8 crores. The Englishman will be joining the squad in Ahmedabad. The team will look to take heart from the way they challenged Punjab Kings while chasing a massive 190-plus target at Mohali.
KKR batting line-up revolves around Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and Andre Russell. The team’s bowling attack is led by Tim Southee – Umesh Yadav and supported by Sunil Narine – Varun Chakravarthy.
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RCB, on the other hand, is coming off a morale-boosting win against Mumbai Indians. The team will be led by Faf du Plessis and feature Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, all-rounders Glenn Maxwell, Michael Bracewell, and Shahbaz Ahmed. The bowling attack will comprise Mohammad Siraj, ‘home boy’ Akash Deep, Harshal Patel, and Karn Sharma. However, RCB will miss the services of pacer Reece Topley and batter Rajat Patidar in KKR vs RCB match, who are both sidelined due to injuries.
The Eden Gardens pitch is expected to offer something for both the batsmen and bowlers. The KKR bowlers will have their task cut out to contain the strong RCB batting line-up. It will be interesting to see how the likes of in-form Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis and Dinesh Karthik fare against the KKR bowling attack.
The match between KKR and RCB promises to be a thrilling encounter, with both teams looking to secure their first win of the season. The fans can expect a high-scoring game, with the outcome likely to be decided by which team holds its nerve in the crunch moments!
