Regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s match between the Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens, the two clubs should be in the top two spots on the points table halfway through their respective league-stage IPL 2024 campaigns.
Although their domination in the tournament thus far is evident, they are fully aware that it is not really significant. The Royals saw that decline from their lofty position the previous season, just as KKR did in 2019. The latter even witnessed the reversal in 2021, when they unexpectedly advanced to the final after finishing last in the table. Both sides would do well to learn from the previous events that, at most, the work is only partially completed.
However, as the season goes on, Knight Riders are gradually establishing themselves, and their supremacy in all three departments is expanding. Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Vaibhav Arora appeared to step in for their players Nitish Rana and Harshit Rana, despite a few niggles and ailments. While they haven’t yet reached their peak performance, Phil Salt and Mitchell Starc have shown a fair amount of menace. It only took them some time to settle into their roles.
The Royals, on the other hand, will enter the match fresh off two nerve-wracking victories—one coming off the penultimate ball, and the other after the final ball. The Royals captain, Sanju Samson, was at a loss for words when asked how the squad ended themselves in a situation that they might have prevented. To exacerbate the situation, their players are complaining of niggles and disappearing as the intense heat and the growing frequency of airport visits get overwhelming.
The Royals lack the depth that KKR has in both their bowling and batting departments; their greatest all-around bowler is R Ashwin, and their best all-around batsman is Riyan Parag. These players are far from the quality and quantity that KKR has in their lineup.
But it should make for entertaining watching as two hot sides square off and the top spot is up for grabs in the mid-point match.
Head-to-head: The two teams have fought hard throughout the years, with KKR winning 14 games and RR winning 13 of the 27 matches. In their previous four meetings, both teams have won two games apiece. On Eden Gardens, though, KKR leads RR 6-3 because
When: 7:30 PM IST on Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Where: Eden Gardens in Kolkata, India; IPL 2024; Kolkata Knight Riders vs. Rajasthan Royals
What to expect: Although it is predicted to be quite hot and muggy during the day, don’t be shocked if the evening brings unusually cool breezes and cloud cover. Dew ought to participate and help the pursuing squad in some way.
Group Vigilance
Knight Riders of Kolkata
Injuries/Unavailability: Nitish Rana hasn’t played in the last two games despite being deemed fit a few days ago.
Strategies & Matchups: Sunil Narine has repeatedly demonstrated, most notably in the previous game, that he won’t require much help from the pitch, despite the fact that the pitch is unlikely to help spinners. Sanju Samson, who has normally scored quickly at Eden Gardens, has been silent thanks to him. Samson has only made 66 runs in the 82-ball match between the two in the Indian Premier League and has been removed three times by the spinner.
Angkrish Raghvanshi, Phil Salt, Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, and Varun Chakravarthy are the probable starting eleven. [Substitute for Impact: Venkatesh Iyer]
Royals of Rajasthan:
Injuries/Unavailability: R Ashwin, Jos Buttler, Sandeep Sharma, and Nandre Burger were the four players that missed the previous game; Ashwin was observed engaging in a protracted net session with the bat. No information was provided regarding their availability.
Strategies & Matchups: The Royals may start Tom Kohler-Cadmore if Buttler isn’t available and healthy. Don’t be shocked, though, if they choose to partner Jaiswal once more with a surprise choice—R Ashwin or Dhruv Jurel. Furthermore, there might be a desire to pit Trent Boult and R Ashwin against Russell, who has only scored 22 runs in three face-offs of 15 balls with the two players having removed him three times between them.
The probable starting eleven are Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Sanju Samson, Riyan Parag, Avesh Khan, Trent Boult, R Ashwin, Rovman Powell, Navdeep Saini/Kuldeep Sen, and Yuzvendra Chahal. [Keshav Maharaj/Donovan Ferreira as the Impact Substitute]
Were you aware?
Of all the teams in the IPL 2024, KKR has the highest powerplay batting performance (Avg 47.14/SR 11), while RR has the poorest (Avg 30.11/RR 7.53).
At 201.8, Shimron Hetmyer has scored the most runs in death overs since the 2022 Indian Premier League. Only Tim David (213.14) and Dinesh Karthik (209.9) have higher strike rates among all the batters who have faced 100 or more balls in this phase.
Trent Boult has not taken a wicket in the powerplay in the last three games despite having five wickets in this period of the game in the first three of the season.
What they expressed
Your life outside of cricket has a significant impact on you. And how I handle it has been a large, important factor in my career. It didn’t go well at first because, well, I took a lot of things that were said about me personally to heart. All I needed to do was determine what was important to me and who’s viewpoints I valued, and I eventually did that. And it has been beneficial. In terms of cricket, I believe that playing at number four is something I’m accustomed to doing in domestic cricket in a variety of circumstances—more often than not, in fact. But yes, both in terms of emotions and abilities, it’s been a combination. Paragon Riyan What this season has changed for him
Will not stop saying that this is a humorous competition and that we should try to live in the moment as much as possible. Shreyas Iyer said, “You have to grab the moment and not let it pass to someone else,” after KKR defeated LSG handily.
