Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad will aim to get back on the winning track when they face each other on Thursday in a rematch of Indian Premier League 2024 final. Both the teams have had a poor start so far in the 2025 season. While both of them have won just one of their three matches played so far, KKR sit at the bottom spot in the points table, courtesy their poor net run rate. Both the teams will be desperate to revive their campaigns when they lock horns at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
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.
The case for Sunrisers Hyderabad is not much different. After a record-breaking 286/6 in their season opener, SRH 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.
KKR Predicted XI vs SRH: Quinton de Kock (w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Spencer Johnson, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Impact substititues: Vaibhav Arora/Manish Pandey
SRH Predicted XI vs KKR: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami, Zeeshan Ansari.
Impact substititues: Wiaan Mulder/Adam Zampa.
(With Agency Inputs)
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