Guwahati: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by will be targeting their third win in the Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 as they square off at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
Though KKR have two wins and two defeats out of four matches but they still need to find their best XI.
Talking about the KKR squad, West Indies and KKR star – Sunil Narine – has been a tough nut to crack for the CSK batsmen, with the spinner taking 13 wickets in 11 matches at an economy rate of six.
While KKR’s think tank definitely knows what it wants out of Dinesh Karthik, they can’t deny the fact that the skipper has been a weak link in the batting order. The team has an international leader in Morgan now and if Banton gets a game and bats well at the top of the order, Karthik will be nothing more than a liability for his team.
Shubman Gill deserves a better opening partner who can share the burden in the powerplay overs and Tom Banton could be the man for them. The youngster has looked solid so far in the tournament. In both games that KKR won, he gave a solid start and his performance will matter against CSK. Gill needs to hold the innings together and play a longish innings.
Tom Banton, the young England wicket-keeper batsman has grabbed the eyeballs in the recent past. He is a dasher at the top of the order and can bat long. Cricket lovers got to witness his batting prowess in Big Bash League last year. Banton can replace Sunil Narine who has looked off-color so far in IPL 2020, both with bat and ball.
Nitish Rana scored a fifty against Delhi Capitals but failed to up the ante. His form is good and he has looked good when in the middle. But he needs to get a big score under his belt to lessen the pressure on the middle order.
Eoin Morgan brings experience in the middle-order but irregularities in his batting position have resulted in KKR’s defeats. He swung his bat hard against DC to score an 18-ball 44 and can thrash Chennai’s bowlers too. Morgan needs to be given more responsibility with the bat and he should be KKR’s regular number 4.
An opener who showed he can tonk it big in the match against Delhi. While that was a placid track at Sharjah with small boundaries, Tripathi is a reliable batsman who can give KKR options down the order and at the top, if needed.
Pat Cummins has been blowing hot and cold this season. He has to step up and do well, just like Rabada is doing for Delhi Capitals.
The young Indian pacer Shivam Mavi is bowling well. Despite a rare bad outing against DC, he can hold his place in the XI. The fact that he opens the bowling with Cummins shows he is perhaps the most in form bowler among the 4 Indians young pacers the KKR squad has.
Kuldeep Yadav was dropped from the squad in the last game, but the Chinaman bowler should be brought back to give the team a second spinning option as Narine has to sit out.
The tweaker will look to shrug off the bad performance against DC with a good outing versus CSK at Abu Dhabi. His mystery spin has worked so far due to hsi great discipline in line and length.
KKR Predicted XI against CSK: Shubman Gill, Tom Banton, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (C/WK), Rahul Tripathi, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy.
