Big picture: Will Royals end their losing streak?
Rajasthan Royals had started IPL 2023 in an emphatic manner, winning four of their first five games. Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal were bossing the batting powerplay, Shimron Hetmyer was showing remarkable consistency as a finisher, and Trent Boult was wreaking havoc with the new ball. As a result, Royals were hovering near the top of the points table.
But their fortunes nosedived since those dizzying heights - they have now suffered five losses in their last six games. While the openers are still going great, Hetmyer's returns have dried up and Boult has missed a couple of games with a niggle. Some of their tactics, too, have been questionable. Like sending R Ashwin to bat ahead of Jason Holder in certain games. Or not making full use of the Impact Player rule at times. They have to start winning again before it is too late.
Kolkata Knight Riders have five wins and six losses from 11 games, the same as Royals, but they are on their way up. Until recently, they were being seen more as party poopers than serious contenders for the playoffs. But back-to-back wins, with Varun Chakravarthy, Andre Russell and Rinku Singh playing lead roles, have taken them into the mid-table logjam. And if they beat Royals, they will be in the top four.
Sunil Narine's form, however, is a cause for concern for them. After taking six wickets in the first three games, Narine has picked up just one in the next eight, and his economy of 8.60 is the worst for him in an IPL season.
Form guide
Kolkata Knight Riders WWLWL (last five matches, most recent first)
Rajasthan Royals LLLWL
Team news: Trent Boult is available again
Boult missed Royals' previous game, against Sunrisers Hyderabad, with a niggle. But he is available for Thursday's game.
Impact Player strategy
KKR are likely to be unchanged. Jason Roy and Suyash Sharma should once again be their Impact options.
Kolkata Knight Riders (probable XII): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 3 Venkatesh Iyer, 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Andre Russell, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Shardul Thakur, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Harshit Rana, 10 Vaibhav Arora, 11 Varun Chakravarthy, 12 Suyash Sharma
Royals will have to decide on their fourth overseas player. Do they want to strengthen their batting with Joe Root, or their bowling with one of Adam Zampa or Obed McCoy, or a bit of both with Holder? Dhruv Jurel and Kuldip Yadav should ideally be their Impact pair.
Rajasthan Royals (probable XII): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Jos Buttler, 3 Sanju Samson (capt, wk), 4 Joe Root, 5 Devdutt Padikkal, 6 Shimron Hetmyer, 7 Dhruv Jurel, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Trent Boult, 10 Sandeep Sharma, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal, 12 Kuldip Yadav
The big question
Stats that matter: Chahal on the cusp of history
Despite his poor returns this season, Narine could be KKR's trump card against Buttler and Sanju Samson. Across all T20s, he has dismissed Buttler three times in 67 balls while conceding only 69 runs. Against Samson, he has fared even better: three dismissals in 78 balls for just 64 runs.
Nitish Rana is one of those rare batters who perform better when the ball is spinning away from them than when it is spinning in. Against Ashwin, he has a strike rate of 190.38 (99 runs off 52 balls) without being dismissed even once. But against Yuzvendra Chahal, he scores at 117.39 (81 off 69) with five dismissals.
Chahal's economy rate of 5.14 at the death is easily the best among those who have bowled at least five overs in that phase in IPL 2023. Chahal (183) is also tied with Dwayne Bravo for the most wickets in IPL history.
Pitch and conditions: Another run-fest?
No venue has had a higher average first-innings total this IPL than Eden Gardens' 205. Spinners have been more successful than fast bowlers here, picking up 31 wickets at an economy of 8.49. Fast bowlers have 29 wickets at 10.47.
Quotes
"I asked bhaiyya [MS Dhoni] what more I can add to my batting for the death overs. He told me, 'No need to think too much. Let the bowler do what he wants to, and react accordingly.'"
Rinku Singh on what he discussed with MS Dhoni after the Chennai Super Kings game
"I have managed to get him [Russell] out a couple of times. But you got to be very, very precise with how you bowl to him. He is a big player for KKR. Rinku Singh obviously has helped him and become a good death-overs player as well."
Trent Boult on bowling to Russell
