Kolkata: Reigning champions Kolkata Knight Riders will hope that their strife-ridden batting unit will tighten its act against in-form table-toppers Gujarat Titans in the IPL match here on Monday.
The Knight Riders suffered an inexplicable meltdown in their previous match, getting bowled out for 95 while chasing 112 against Punjab Kings in Mullanpur, and that collapse was a just reflection of the overall rot that has set among their batters.
But they have a ray of hope. The reigning IPL champions have roped in Abhishek Nayar, who was recently sacked by the BCCI from the post of India’s assistant coach, even before his exit from the national setup was made official.
The homecoming of Nayar, a former KKR assistant coach, is sure to give a fillip to the Kolkatans, who currently have six points from seven matches and need to win at least five of their remaining seven games to stay in the playoff race.
He has already begun working with key batters like vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer and Ramandeep Singh — their two weak links this season.
Iyer, the team’s most expensive player this season at Rs 23.75-crore, has scored only 121 runs at an average of 24.20, while Ramandeep has managed just 29 runs in six innings.
Andre Russell has only 34 runs in five innings, while Rinku Singh has scored 116 runs at an average of 38.66.
Only Rahane (221 runs, 2 fifties) and young Angkrish Raghuvanshi (170 runs) have shown promise, though the 20-year-old too has struggled with consistency.
At the top, Quinton de Kock and Sunil Narine have had a few good starts but have not delivered regularly and KKR will hope that Nayar will find a solution for it.
Two pitches have been prepared for this match, and one has an extra layer of grass that has not been trimmed.
The final decision on the surface will depend on the team’s strategy, even as the KKR have conveyed their displeasure at not getting enough “home advantage”.
Memories of summer of 2014
But above all that, the debacle in Mullanpur should work as a catalyst of change. In the IPL 2014, a Gautam Gambhir-led KKR were cruising at 121 for no loss chasing 171 set by Rajasthan Royals, courtesy a blazing start from the skipper and Robin Uthappa.
But one of IPL’s most dramatic collapses followed as KKR lost six wickets for two runs, including a hat-trick by Pravin Tambe, and they fell short by 10 runs, ending at 160/6.
However, that defeat was a grim prelude to KKR’s nine-match winning streak that culminated in them lifting the title in 2014. So, can they engineer something similar here?
Well-oiled GT
The Titans, led by Shubman Gill, have lost only twice this season. Their bowling attack has been a major strength with pacer Prasidh Krishna leading their charge with 14 wickets at an average of 14.35 from seven games.
Krishna’s ability to outthink batters and vary his length have been the key, as seen in his recent spell against Lucknow Super Giants when he returned with a four-wicket haul.
Left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore has taken 11 wickets and could relish the variable bounce and slow nature of Eden surface. Mohammed Siraj also features among the top-10 wicket-takers this season.
In the batting department, opener B Sai Sudharsan (365 runs) is just three runs behind Orange Cap holder Nicholas Pooran, while Jos Buttler (315 runs, average 63.00) has been solid at No. 3.
Lower down, Sherfane Rutherford has emerged as GT’s designated enforcer.
Teams (from): Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Quinton de Kock (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Luvnith Sisodia, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Anrich Nortje, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Chetan Sakariya.
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (Captain), Jos Buttler (wk), B Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, Sherfane Rutherford, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohammad Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror, Arshad Khan, Jayant Yadav, Nishant Sindhu, Kulwant Khejroliya, Gerald Coetzee, Manav Suthar, Kumar Kushagra, Gurnoor Brar and Karim Janat.
Match starts at 7:30 pm.
