IPL 2021: Match 10 – RCB vs KKR – Kolkata Knight Riders Predicted Playing XI

Kolkata Knight Riders suffered a shocking defeat against the defending champions Mumbai Indians when they failed to chase the last 31 runs needed off five overs when five wickets remained. KKR lost that match by 10 runs and it was a massive setback as far as their mindset in the league is concerned.

Eoin Morgan team would be eager to know the challenges they will face when they come against Royal Challengers Bangalore once again in Chennai at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on April 18. This will be an afternoon match and it will be interesting to see if Kolkata makes any changes in their XIs.

Predicted Playing XI of KKR against RCB

1. Openers (Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill)

Kolkata Knight Riders surprised a few experts when they promoted Nitish Rana to open the batting for them in the first match of the IPL 2021. However, the decision worked quite well as Rana notched up successive fifties for them. Hence, there is no reason to change the combination unnecessarily. Shubman Gill, having scored 15 and 33, in the two innings so far, would be eyeing a big score for his side. The right and left-hand combination seem to work well for KKR as of now. 

2. Middle-order (Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik, Eoin Morgan)

The middle-order of Kolkata is one of their strengths. At no.3, Rahul Tripathi is a busy player who can adjust to the match situation. He couldn’t get to double digits in the last match but had scored a lovely half-century in the opening match. Morgan hasn’t looked in great touch with the bat, falling twice while trying to hit over the boundary. 

KKR would expect their skipper Morgan and their former captain Dinesh Karthik to step up to the task and deliver a win. The way the team failed to chase down the total against Mumbai, a lot of questions have been asked about the KKR middle order and the trio would want to respond to the critics with their bat. 

3. All-rounders (Shakib Al Hasan and Andre Russell)

In two matches Shakib has bowled eight overs for 57 runs and picked up two wickets. His comeback into the team has made their bowling unit look a bit more wholesome for these conditions in Chennai. However, KKR would expect him to deliver with the bat as well in the middle order. Unfortunately, he also played a rash shot during the chase against Mumbai. 

Andre Russell’s death overs bowling was the talk of the first week of the IPL 2021. He impressed everyone when he bowled a tight spell against Hyderabad while KKR was defending. He then picked up 5 for 15 in two overs against Mumbai. However, he would know that Kolkata needs him to create an impact with the bat more than anything. 

4. Bowlers (Pat Cummins, Varun Chakravarthy, Harbhajan Singh, Prasidh Krishna)

The KKR bowlers impressed everyone in the previous match against Mumbai Indians. They started with the first five overs of just spin bowling after which the pacers took control. Varun Chakravarthy bowled a good spell of 1 for 27 while Cummins took 2 for 24 from his four overs. 

Harbhajan was used only for two overs in the previous match and Morgan has used him only against the left-handed opening batsmen of the opposition. Hence, he could be bowling against Devdutt Padikkal, once again, opening the bowling for KKR. Interestingly, Harbhajan has dismissed Virat Kohli a few times as well, which could play on Morgan’s mind. 

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