Spinners in focus as Knight Riders run into defending champions

The last time Kolkata Knight Riders locked horns against Gujarat Titans, Rinku Singh etched his name in the record books by smashing five sixes in the final over to power the team over the line in a most-impossible manner. 

Two weeks after this nail-biting thriller that enthralled a capacity crowd at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, a lot has changed for the two sides since that afternoon encounter. 

While the Knight Riders unearthed a star in Rinku, the Titans or rather Yash Dayal, was at the receiving end of the mayhem, and the youngster has since then not featured in the league.

"He fell ill and lost 7-8 kilos after that match. There was a spread of viral infection during that period, and due to the pressure he had faced. As of now, his condition is presently not good enough to take the field," said Hardik Pandya in a conversation with Star Sports. 

Cricket can be a cruel game, and unfortunately for the left-arm seamer, he learnt this in the harshest way possible. 

While the Titans bounced back from the stutter to win three out of the following four games to consolidate their position at number two in the points table, Kolkata lost four successive games before bouncing way to a 21-run win against Royal Challengers Bangalore. 

Hardik Pandya-led outfit have by far looked like the most settled unit, but they will be well aware of the threat possessed by the indifferent Kolkata outfit, which has blown hot and cold this season. 

While it is a battle between two destructive batting units with Andre Russell and David Miller in the ranks, the two sides also have arguably the most skilled spinners in the shortest format, with Rashid Khan, Sunil Narine, and Noor Ahmad set to take centre stage. 

Things to watch out for

Sunil Narine's dismal form

One of the significant reasons for Knight Riders' languishing in the bottom half of the points table is the lacklustre performance of Narine. 

The mystery spinner has endured a tough start to the season and scalped only six wickets in eight innings at an average of 43, and what is worrisome if you're a Knight Riders fan is the fact that Narine has been wicketless in the last five games. 

The 34-year-old has conceded at an economy rate of 8.9 in the eight innings this season, which is the worst for him across all the years with a minimum of eight innings. 

With Varun Chakaravarthy and Suyash Sharma weaving their magic for the franchise, Kolkata will hope for their senior spinner to take responsibility of the side in the second half of the competition.  

The Knight Riders spinners were guilty of bowling short in their win against the Royal Challengers and will aim to improve their showing in this clash. 

Will the real Hardik Pandya stand up, please?

The skipper of the Titans has been in the spotlight this edition due to his string of low scores and his below-par average in the six games. Hardik missed the reverse fixture of this clash at home due to illness and will lead the side in this crunch encounter. 

The 29-year-old has not set the tournament alight with his blistering knocks and has managed to score only 128 runs in six innings at an average of 21.33 and a strike rate of 117.4, which is the fifth worst among batters with a minimum of 100 runs in the league. 

"Hardik is a world-class batter. It's just a matter of time before he comes back. I'm sure he is going to come in, and in the next few games, he is going to do something special," said Abhivan Manohar after the last game against Mumbai India.  

While Hardik is happy to have donned the anchor's role for the Titans since their inception, the team management would bank on him to up the ante as they progress into the business end of the competition. 

Kolkata's opening woes 

Jason Roy's inclusion in the XI has been a revelation for the Knight Riders in the last couple of games, as the right-handed batter has scored 160 runs at an average of 53.33 and a strike rate of 170.02, including two fifties in three innings. 

While Roy has been single-handedly shouldering the responsibility of the team in the powerplay, the England batter has managed to find any support from the other end. 

The opening combination of the team has amassed 280 runs in eight innings at an average runs per wicket of 17.5, which is the worst for the openers of any team in the competition. 

Nitish Rana and the team management would hope for Narayan Jagadeesan, who will stride out with Roy for this fixture to contribute a lot more in the second half. 

The Tamil Nadu batter has scored 70 runs in five innings at an average of 14 and will be itching to translate his domestic performance at the biggest stage. 

In fact, in this IPL, among the top order batters (1-7) who have faced 30+ balls in the first 10 balls, Narayan Jagadeesan's strike rate of 75 is the lowest.

Pitch & conditions

If you're a batter struggling for runs in this edition of the tournament, Eden Gardens is the venue to get your form back and gain some momentum. In the six innings played at this ground, the average first-innings total is around the 212-run mark, and the average winning score is 223. 

Out of the 40 wickets to fall at this venue, 19 have been scalped by pacers, with 3.2 dismissals per innings compared to 21 and 3.5 by the spinners. 

The boundaries are on the shorter side square of the wickets, and hence it will not be surprising if we witness plenty of fours and sixes being hit in the course of 40 overs. 

Tactical nous

> While the onus of the Knight Riders will rely on Jason Roy at the top of the order, the 32-year-old will be wary of Hardik's new ball heroics early in the powerplay. 

The Titans skipper has dismissed him twice in 23 deliveries in T20s since 2020 and has an average of just 12.5 against him, a match-up that could well and truly rattle Kolkata early in the innings. 

> Andre Russell has been short of runs in the tournament, and the West Indian will face his biggest test against Rashid Khan. The right-hander has been dismissed five times in 12 T20 innings against the leg-spinner and averages only 10.8 against him. 

Team combination

Kolkata Knight Riders will most likely name an unchanged playing XI, with Suyash Sharma coming into the side as the impact substitute, depending on the toss. 

Kolkata Knight Riders: N Jagadeesan (wk), Jason Roy, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (Captain), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, David Wiese, Vaibhav Arora, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy

Hardik Pandya-led outfit will also stick with the winning combination for this clash. Joshua Little and Vijay Shankar will feature in the playing XI before being subbed out in the second innings. 

Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya (Captain), Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Abhinav Manohar, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Shami, Mohit Sharma