Dark skies, sudden bursts, and howls of wind as the Kalboisakhi (Nor’wester) returned along with the Indian Premier League to Kolkata. The Knights are back to paint the night purple, too.
Kolkata Knight Riders will play Sunrisers Hyderabad in their season opener of IPL 2024 at the Eden Gardens on Saturday. The neighbouring Ganges, too, swells at the return of the city’s adopted son. Gautam Gambhir is back. The fiery two-time IPL-winning captain with KKR, 2012 and 2014, is now the side’s mentor.
Also returning is the current captain, Shreyas Iyer, after missing last season due to injury. The same threat looms large to return this time as well.
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Mitchell Starc returns to pay good on his commitment after returning home in 2018 without playing a single game for KKR. Albeit after a record-breaking fee of INR 24.75 crore.
Rinku Singh returns in ‘Purple and Gold’ with international experience after a breakthrough season.
Another name that has gone under the radar is Manish Pandey, who was part of KKR’s title-winning team under Gambhir’s tenure.
As for the Orange Army, Pat Cummins returns to his old stomping ground as SRH captain and, after becoming the man to win it all, leads Australia.
His Aussie teammate Travis Head, too, returns to the IPL after 8 years as a changed man—one who starred against India in the 2023 ODI World Cup final.
In the stands, Shah Rukh Khan is expected to return too.
What: KKR vs SRH, Match 3
When: March 23, 7:40 PM IST
Where: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Live Streaming: JioCinema App
KKR Team News
After seven opening combinations last season, KKR will hope Venkatesh Iyer and Phil Salt come good. The star-studded middle order of Shreyas, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, and Andre Russell provides enough firepower for a strong finish. The spinning trio of Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, and super-sub Suyash Sharma will be handy for any batting line-up.
Starc, aided by Chetan Sakariya, Vaibhav Arora, or Sakib Hussain can be potent pacers with the added duo of Venkatesh and Russell.
KKR Playing XI vs SRH
Phil Salt (WK), Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (C), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Mitchell Starc, Chetan Sakariya, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma (SUB)
SRH Team News
With Cummins as captain, one overseas slot in the XI is already booked.
That would leave Wanindu Hasaranga, Aiden Markram, Travis Head, Glenn Phillips, Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen, and Fazalhaq Farooqi to fight it out for the other three places.
Balance will be key for SRH, as losing any of their other foreign stars can easily mean losing out to another.
Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi will be key with the bat, as Shahbaz Ahmed and Washington Sundar can be good all-round spinning options in the middle overs with bat and ball.
Pace bowling, seen by many as Sunriser Hyderabad’s strength, will depend on the form of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik, and T Natarajan.
SRH Playing XI vs KKR
Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen (WK), Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Washington Sundar, Pat Cummins (C), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan. Mayank Markande (SUB)
KKR vs SRH Pitch Report
In recent seasons, the pitch has been quicker than what the team probably desired. Gautam Gambhir’s success was built on slow and low pitches that aided their spinners. With him back at Eden, the likes of Narine, Chakravarthy, and Suyash will be happy. SRH’s pacers, who are also adept at bowling cutters and slower ones, will not mind.
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