Kolkata: Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders and last season’s finalists Sunrisers Hyderabad find themselves in troubled waters, having lost two of their last three games, and both teams will be desperate to revive their campaigns when they lock horns in the IPL here on Thursday.
KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane had initially downplayed concerns surrounding his team following a heavy defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the season opener, insisting there was “no need to panic”.
However, with two losses in three matches — considering KKR lost just three games across both home and away legs in their triumphant campaign in IPL 2024 — the mood in the camp is slightly muted.
Pitched battle
The focus has now shifted to the Eden Gardens pitch, which has come under scrutiny after KKR’s seven-wicket defeat to RCB.
Former KKR opener Phil Salt and Virat Kohli took the home attack to the cleaners, stitching a 95-run stand off just 51 balls in a one-sided chase of 175.
The Cricket Association of Bengal has been under pressure to produce a track that aids KKR’s spin-heavy attack, comprising Sunil Narine, Moeen Ali and Varun Chakravarthy.
Chakravarthy, fresh from his exploits in the Champions Trophy triumph last month, struggled on a flat deck against RCB, leaking 10.75 runs per over.
Indian great and Lucknow Super Giants mentor Zaheer Khan has also called for home advantage after Punjab Kings outplayed them at the Ekana stadium, criticising the pitch by saying, “It seemed PBKS’ curator was out here.”
Reports suggest the Eden Gardens pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee had declined KKR’s request for a spin-friendly track in their opening match, a decision that seemingly backfired.
Chakravarthy, one of their key spinners, leaked 45 runs in that match. While Mukherjee defended his stance, CAB president Snehasish Ganguly has since been closely inspecting the pitch alongside the curator, hinting at a possible shift in approach for KKR’s upcoming home matches.
Team strategy
Beyond the pitch, KKR’s squad composition has raised questions following the mega auction.
Their batting and bowling units have looked out of sync, with key players failing to deliver.
Notably, four players KKR released before the auction — former skipper Shreyas Iyer (PBKS), his deputy Nitish Rana (RR), Phil Salt (RCB), and pace spearhead Mitchell Starc (DC) — have all excelled in the first 10 days of the IPL.
Starc’s departure has particularly hurt KKR, as their pace attack appears toothless in his absence.
To compound the frustration, Starc registered a match-winning 5/35 for DC against SRH in their last outing — the Aussie’s first T20 five-wicket haul and the best bowling figures of the season so far.
Australian pacer Spencer Johnson, brought in to replace Starc, has failed to impress, while Anrich Nortje remains sidelined with a back injury.
Meanwhile, KKR’s big-money re-signing, Venkatesh Iyer, has managed just nine runs from two innings, adding to the team’s woes.
Among retained players, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Harshit Rana, and Ramandeep Singh have struggled to find their touch.
The team’s aggressive batting approach — assuming 200 is the par score on all pitches — has also backfired as a tactical re-evaluation is also the need of the hour before it’s too late.
SRH woes
Sunrisers Hyderabad, after a record-breaking 286/6 in their season opener, have struggled to breach the 200-run mark in their last two games.
Their ultra-attacking batting approach has led to collapses against Lucknow Super Giants (190/9) and Delhi Capitals (163 all out), resulting in consecutive defeats.
Pat Cummins’ side will also need to reassess the strategy as they look to avenge their loss in last season’s IPL final.
The pace duo of Cummins and Mohammed Shami could pose a significant threat at Eden Gardens, where the India senior pacer, who represents Bengal at the domestic level, will be keen to make an impact in familiar conditions.
With both teams looking to turn their campaigns around, it promises to be a high-stakes battle where adaptability to conditions could be the deciding factor.
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.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Atharva Taide, Abhinav Manohar, Aniket Verma, Sachin Baby, Heinrich Klaasen, Travis Head, Harshal Patel, Kamindu Mendis, Wiaan Mulder, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Shami, Rahul Chahar, Adam Zampa, Simarjeet Singh, Zeeshan Ansari, Jaydev Unadkat and Eshan Malinga.
Match starts at 7:30PM IST.
