It will be somewhat an awkward day for the Delhi Daredevils’ (DD) skipper Gautam Gambhir to walk out at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata and not to represent the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) this time around.

The southpaw Gambhir was at the helm of affairs for KKR from 2011-2017. He was an inspirational leader for the Kolkata-based outfit. It was under his tenure that the purple brigade won the title twice.

Gambhir in all likelihood will get the backing from the crowd. However, when it comes to the crunch situations during the game, the Eden crowd will surely back their home team. The fans would want to see KKR players delivering goods.

After getting off to a perfect start against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) courtesy a 17-balls half-century by Sunil Narine, KKR lost a couple on the bounce.

Moreover, they had the match in their grasp against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). However, it was spectacular innings from Sam Billings turned the match on its head.

Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja smashed a six each in the final over of Vinay Kumar. They went on to seal the deal for Chennai at their home-base.

Sunil Narine and Kuldeep Yadav have been the standout bowlers for KKR. Narine bowled a sensational spell the other day against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). But it wasn’t enough to give KKR a victory.

Wrist-spinner Kuldeep Kuldeep was also making the ball rip and bagged the prized wicket of Manish Pandey. They have faltered big time in the batting department.

So much so, Kolkata has been overly reliant on Windies all-rounder Andre Russell and it has been evident in the last few matches.

Delhi Daredevils — Delhi registers their first win against Mumbai. Credit BCCI

In all likelihood, Sunil Narine will get his opening position back after the ploy to open with Robin Uthappa and Chris Lynn didn’t work out.

On the other hand, Delhi will be overjoyed with the fact that finally managed a victory against the Mumbai Indians (MI) in their previous encounter.

Delhi lost the opening encounter to Kings XI Punjab by six wickets. It was a dominating performance by Punjab which was made possible due to the fastest half-century in IPL history by KL Rahul.

In the second match against the Rajasthan Royals (RR), they failed to chase down a revised target of 72 in six overs during the rain-marred encounter.

With some big hitters in their ranks, Delhi was expected to chase the total down. However, some tight bowling by Rajasthan prevented them from chasing it down.

In the previous game, it was a brilliant unbeaten knock of 91 by Jason Roy which helped them chase a stiff target of 195 off the final delivery of the match.

Team Combinations –

Kolkata Knight Riders:

The home team will be under pressure especially after two consecutive losses. They already have lost the services of speedster Mitchell Starc and promising speedster Kamlesh Nagarkoti.

Hence, they are unlikely to tinker with their combination. However, they might think of changing the opening combination and make Narine bat there again.

In addition, the 18-year-old Shubman Gill also needs to be moved up the order.

Predicted XI: Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Mitchell Johnson, Shivam Mavi, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav

Kolkata Knight Riders — KKR will look to return to winning ways against Delhi Daredevils. Credit: BCCI

Delhi Daredevils:

After a victory in their previous encounter, Delhi too will hardly make any changes in the XI.

However, spinner Shahbaz Nadeem who was smashed for runs in the last match might have to sit out in favour of either a Jayant Yadav or Amit Mishra.

Jayant looks the likely option after Mishra was smashed all around the park by KL Rahul in Mohali.

Predicted XI: Jason Roy, Gautam Gambhir (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Shreyas Iyer, Vijay Shankar, Daniel Christian, Rahul Tewatia, Amit Mishra/Jayant Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Trent Boult

Match Prediction:

Both teams have a victory each in three matches. Kolkata has lost their last two matches. Delhi has won their previous encounter which will keep them in a good stead.

Delhi will be bolstered with the fact that they have Gambhir in their ranks who knows the condition of Eden Gardens in and out.