Rajasthan Royals & Kolkata Knight Riders will face each other for the first time in this edition. Both sides have a few interesting picks for this IPL season. The most important thing is that the winning momentum is currently not lying on the sides of RR & KKR, as KKR got their second defeat in a row against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the last match. At the same time, Rajasthan has been crushed by the hands of Gujarat Titans and laid down to the fifth position in the points table. Also, the two young skippers, Sanju Samson & Shreyas Iyer, were not at their best in this IPL season. Pointedly, Shreyas Iyer looked so vivid in the international juncture before the start of the tournament. But, it may be the leadership pressure choking the batting form of both the stalwarts.
Rajasthan’s bowling unit is acting so lethal & unhandy, but the batting couldn’t assist it in the previous two matches. The likes of Sanju Samson & Devdutt Paddikal produced the deficiency of anchor role cameos in the innings. On the other hand, Kolkata is still not even comfortable with their picked playing XI. So, instead of digging deep, let’s throw a few predictions & probabilities for the game between RR & KKR.
The most important key for this game would be the role of spinners in all three phases. Yuzi Chahal, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy may have grabbed the most number of wickets. While Brabourne stadium’s pitch offers a decent bounce, the bounce maneuvers like Jos Buttler, Aaron Finch and Shimron Hetmyer may apell their magic in this game. The toss prediction completely depends on the factor of dew, as probably the skipper who wins it would opt to bowl first.
The inclusion of the kiwi batter Daryl Mitchell is almost fixed from the side of Rajasthan. For KKR, the composition would be the same as that of the previous game. The absence of Sam Billings in the middle may weaken the strength of their middle order. Beneath are the best playing XIs of both teams.
Playing XI For RR: Jos Buttler(✈️), Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (C/W), Daryl Mitchell(✈️), Shimron Hetmyer(✈️), Riyan Parag, R Ashwin, James Neesham(✈️), Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Sen, Yuzvendra Chahal
Playing XI For KKR: Venkatesh Iyer, Aaron Finch(✈️), Shreyas Iyer (C), Nitish Rana, Sheldon Jackson (W), Andre Russell(✈️), Sunil Narine(✈️), Pat Cummins(✈️), Aman Hakim Khan, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy
The track of Brabourne stadium is highly turning & bouncy. While the straight & off-side fences are too short, due to dew’s presence, the outfield becomes so wet. So, the batsmen get good help from the surface, which ultimately helps them in the run making process. This pitch even gets slow & tricky sometimes after bowling a few overs if the day has been so hot in the context of temperature.
The weather of Mumbai city would remain wildly hot at the peak tally of 37°c & the minimum will be at 29°c. Also, the humidity would stay at 69%, and the whole day would be sunny, as per AccuWeather.com. As the game will commence at 7:30 pm, the dew is a much more obvious factor, especially in the second half of the game.
The spinners like Yuzi Chahal, R Ashwin and Sunil Narine must be your priority while making the best combinations for the playing XI.
The pacers who can extract the complete bounce from the track like Prasidh Krishna, Pat Cummins and Andre Russell should be inducted into your Dream11 side.
In-form batters like Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer and Venkatesh Iyer would be the perfect candidates for skipper & deputy skipper roles.
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