Kolkata. In the 28th match of the Indian Premier League 2024, two-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders will play at their home Eden Gardens on Sunday. Lucknow, which is playing without Mayank Yadav, will aim to return to winning ways when it faces the Super Giants. This is KKR’s first match this season at Eden Gardens. Mentor Gautam Gambhir knows very well that the five matches to be held here can prove to be decisive for making it to the playoffs for the first time after 2021.
KKR is suffering the consequences of excessive dependence on West Indies’ Andre Russell and Sunil Narine, which will prove to be the case against Chennai Super Kings. Chennai defeated them by seven wickets in the last match. Narayan (27) and Russell (10) failed with the bat. Due to the tremendous form of these two, KKR, which had scored 200-plus in three matches, could only score 137 runs for nine wickets against Chennai. Nitish Rana will not be able to play this match due to finger injury.
KKR captain Shreyas Iyer has not been able to impress and scored 0, 39 not out, 18 and 34 runs in four matches. Venkatesh Iyer could not reach double figures in three matches and scored his only half-century against Royal Challengers Bangalore. In the first match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, he came at number three but in the last two matches he came at number seven and fifth. Ramandeep Singh also did not impress.
On the other hand, Lucknow will miss fast bowler Mayank Yadav who is out due to arm muscle strain. Arshad Khan, playing in his place, failed against Delhi. Mohsin Khan is also not completely fit yet. Quinton de Kock and KL Rahul will have to play big innings. At the same time, good performance will also be expected from Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran. They also have good spinners like Ravi Bishnoi and Krunal Pandya.
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Tags: gautam gambhir, IPL 2024, kkr, KL Rahul, Lucknow Super Giants
FIRST PUBLISHED: April 13, 2024, 22:11 IST