Nitish Rana’s side are currently seventh with just two wins in seven games
Posted Date – 08:20 AM, Wed – 26 April 23
Bengaluru: KKRs players during a practice match ahead of the IPL 2023 match between Bengaluru Royal Challengers and Kolkata Knights at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Tuesday, April 25, 2023. (Photo: IANS)
Bangalore: Kolkata Knight Riders will be desperate to bring their flagging campaign back on track, while Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be looking to shed their over-reliance on their top three batsmen when the two teams clash in the IPL on Wednesday.
The two-time champions looked clueless in their last four games, losing both home and away. The Nitish Rana-led side are currently seventh, having won just two of their seven games. The loss can largely be attributed to the poor performance of KKR’s batsmen.
They are missing regular captain Shreyas Iyer and star all-rounder Shakib-Al-Hasan. In Sunday’s 49-run defeat against the Chennai Super Kings, KKR batsmen are expected to rise to the occasion and chase 230-plus runs instead of top-ranked players including the likes of Venkatesh Iyer, Rana and N Jagadeesan, They crumble under the pressure.
KKR have also been struggling to get their opening pair to zero. Former champions are shuffled along with Sunil Narine, Jagadeesan, Litton Das, Jason Roy and Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Their decision to send Narine to start with Jagadeesan against CSK fell through as the West Indians were left with a duck.
If Roy and Rinku Singh hadn’t been in their fifties, the magnitude of the failure might have been greater. The duo’s performance was a silver lining in a dismal performance against CSK. Hitter Andre Russell also failed miserably in the finisher role.
He failed to hit bigs and the fact that KKR had him seventh or eighth didn’t help either. The all-around player’s physical fitness is also an issue. He hasn’t even hit four at a time this season because he’s been injured so often while bowling. But KKR will come into the game with a slight psychological advantage, beating RCB by 81 earlier this season.
RCB, meanwhile, were confident after a seven-match win over then-topping Rajasthan Royals and were eager to extend their winning streak. Faf du Plessis and his team have won four of their seven matches, including the last two, and find themselves outside the top four in fifth.
RCB’s victory was due to the outstanding performance of some players. Du Plessis has been in sublime form and has built the centuries-old stand alongside Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell, who are also on good terms. Such was the reliance on the trio, only they were scoring most of the runs while none of the other batsmen fired. More are expected to come from intermediate orders, including Dinesh Karthik, Mahipal Lomlor, Shahbaz Ahmed and Suyash Prabhudessai.
Among the bowlers, Mohammed Siraj has been in sensational form. Purple cap holders have conceded 7.17 goals per round and have taken the most penalties this season – 89. Siraj has strong support from Wayne Parnell and Harshal Patel.
The addition of Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga also did wonders for the previously struggling RCB bowling squad. RCB were dropped by KKR spinners earlier in the season and they have to be a little cautious when playing with the likes of Varun Chakravarthy, Suyash Sharma and Narine.
