Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) is set to host its first match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 against the defending champion Mumbai Indians, who have already played the season opener but lost the match against CSK.
With the inclusion of Pat Cummins and Eoin Morgan, the KKR squad led by Dinesh Karthik look more stronger. They are the two-time IPL winners but in the last five seasons, they have not lifted the title. In IPL 2019, they ended in the fifth position in the points tables. Fans had a lot more expectations from them but they had disappointed everyone. But this season KKR will look to grab the trophy.
On that note, here we have discussed the probable playing XI of KKR for their maiden match of IPL 2020:
Openers: Sunil Narine and Shubhman Gill
Sunil Narine had last season with Chris Lynn had given a fiery start to the team but this season, he would be partnered with Shubhman Gill in the opening position, the reason being Lynn has been traded to MI.
Nairne will also fulfil the allrounder position. He is coming to the tournament after playing CPL 2020. The spinner was in the super form in that tournament. So, KKR have surely an advantage of that.
Shubhman Gill has a responsible job to do as Nairne will be attacking batsman, the youngster will have to anchor the innings from the other end.
Middle Order: Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik, Eoin Morgan
Nitish Rana has been the vital cog for KKR in the past two editions. With his ability to build innings, he will play a significant role at no.3 in the team. In the last edition, he scored 344 runs, including three half-centuries, in 14 matches at the strike rate of 146.38.
Dinesh Karthik, the wicketkeeper-batsman, has proved to be the finisher of the team. He has got the experience under the belt to lead the team across the line. In his IPL career, he has scored 3654 runs at a strike rate of 129.80 plus.
Eoin Morgan is the new addition in the KKR squad. He would form the crux of the batting line up. The England captain already had a successful summer season and would be expected to deliver the same in the IPL 2020.
All-rounders: Andre Russell, Rinku Singh
Andre Russell is the core of the team. His all-round performance has a significant impact on the result of the Kolkata team. The towering batsman, as usual, will accelerate the innings and beat the bowlers in death overs. Talking about his bowling, the pacer would be a dangerous man as he enters the tournament after playing CPL 2020.
Rinku Singh has not got many opportunities in IPL but he had the talent of power hitting. For the coming match, he would want to make most of his opportunity.
Bowlers: Pat Cummins, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasad Krishna, Kamlesh Nagarkoti
KKR’s most expensive buy of IPL 2020 auction was Pat Cummins, being bagged the franchise for a whopping 15.50 crores So, unarguably, he will be in the playing XI but the team would want him to give value for money performance.
Kuldeep Yadav has struggled in the last season to pick wickets at crunch situations. But his uniqueness in terms of being a rare breed of chinaman bowlers is something that has always been an X-Factor and will continue to do so for the Knight Riders.
Kamlesh Nagarkoti is the young talent but he has been out of the action for over two years because of injury. But he was the leading wicket-taker for India U-19 team in World Cup 2018. KKR would back the youngster this season as he fit to give hard times to bowlers in the UAE.