(Cricket news) KKR lost their opening game against Punjab Kings by DLS method which must have been frustrating. Now they return to their fortress Eden Gardens after 4 years. The ground has given their fans some incredible games and some of them have been against their next opponents RCB. The opening game against Mumbai Indians was a statement win by RCB. Their big boys Mohammed Siraj, Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli all fired in their game. KKR will be looking to bounce back and there are a couple of things that need to fall in place. 

KKR ideal playing XI:

Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Mandeep Singh, Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Anukul Roy, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy/Venkatesh Iyer

Bench:

Tim Southee, N Jagadeesan,, David Wiese, Kulwant Khejroliya, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma

Lockie Ferguson is likely to be fit again and he should come in place of Tim Southee. If KKR bat first than Varun Chakravarthy will be the impact player as he doesn’t contribute with the bat. If they bowl first than it is a toss up because Venkatesh Iyer can bowl medium pace as well but given that he was only called up for batting against PBKS, Nitish Rana may not want him to bowl. After Shakib Al Hasan pulled out of the tournament, KKR roped in Jason Roy but he won’t be available in this match. 

RCB ideal playing XI:

Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Michael Bracewell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (wk), David Willey, Karn Sharma, Harshal Patel, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj/Mahipal Lomror

Bench:

Suyash Prabhudessai, Anuj Rawat, Manoj Bhandage, Siddarth Kaul, Sonu Yadav, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Finn Allen, Himanshu Sharma

RCB didn’t have to use an impact player in the last game but it may have been Mahipal Lomror. Rajat Patidar has been ruled out of the tournament which is a massive blow especially because he had such a great domestic season. Josh Hazlewood and Wanindu Hasaranga are still unavailable while Reece Topley is also out of contention as dislocated his shoulder while fielding in the last game. David Willey is likely to come in for Topley who will be a big miss. KKR will have to find a way to get rid of Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli early before they cause much damage.

Also read: IPL 2023: Who will Quinton de Kock replace in the LSG line-up?