It’s a quick turnaround for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who on Saturday night confirmed a spot in the playoffs with a win over Mumbai Indians. Though they are table-toppers, they aren’t assured of a top-two finish yet. After finishing seventh in each of the last two seasons of the IPL, that will be KKR’s target when they go to Ahmedabad.
The primary reason for KKR’s success this season is right at the top. Each of their top four wickets has added 300-plus runs at a scoring rate of over 10. It’s a first in the IPL. Openers Sunil Narine and Phil Salt have been key – they have had six 50-plus opening partnerships in 12 innings, averaging 46.58 and going at 12.46. Unfortunately for KKR, Salt will be leaving soon, so that will end soon.
But it’s not just the top-order batters. KKR have four batters – Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Salt and Narine – who have scored 100-plus runs at a strike rate of 180-plus in IPL 2024. The only other team to do this in any IPL season is Sunrisers Hyderabad, also in 2024.
And what about the bowling? KKR have four – Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, Narine and Russell – who have taken 15 or more wickets at sub-21 averages – also a first in the IPL.
How do GT counter the batters, though?
Rashid Khan could be the answer.
He has a decent record against most of the KKR batters. He has bowled 25 balls to Narine in all T20s and dislodged him twice. Salt hasn’t faced Rashid in the IPL, but played him once in the Hundred where he fell first ball. The Iyers have fared marginally better against Rashid – Shreyas has been dismissed twice in ten innings by Rashid but strikes at only 107.79 in the IPL against him, while Venkatesh has fallen to him only once in three innings. Russell has been dismissed by Rashid three times in 24 balls in the IPL and averages just 8.0 against him.
But that’s where Rahmanullah Gurbaz could come in.
With Salt set to miss the playoffs to prepare for the T20 World Cup for England, KKR could make the switch right away, slot in Gurbaz as the keeper-batter at the top, and give him a few games rather than shuttle him in directly for the playoffs. Gurbaz has a stellar record against Rashid, having hit him for 30 runs off 11 balls in the IPL without being dismissed.
GT are currently eighth on the points table, and while they are not out of the playoffs race yet, it looks very tough.
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Gujarat Titans
GT have been very inconsistent with their selections. They have used 23 players so far in the tournament, the most for any team. But having won their last game comprehensively, they might feel they have struck the right balance. The B Sai Sudharsan-Shubman Gill opening stand worked wonders, and they might go with the same even if Wriddhiman Saha is fit. Depending on the surface, one of R Sai Kishore and Sandeep Warrier could come in as an impact sub for Sai Sudharsan.
Likely XII: 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 B Sai Sudharsan, 3 M Shahrukh Khan, 4 David Miller, 5 Matthew Wade (wk), 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Noor Ahmad, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Mohit Sharma, 11 Kartik Tyagi, 12 Sandeep Warrier/R Sai Kishore
Kolkata Knight Riders
KKR had Vaibhav Arora swapping for Nitish Rana in their last game and could do the same. That aside, of course, Gurbaz could come in for Salt, unless they want to leave that for when they have to do it.
Likely XII: 1 Phil Salt/Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Nitish Rana, 4 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 5 Venkatesh Iyer, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Rinku Singh, 8 Ramandeep Singh, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Harshit Rana, 12 Vaibhav Arora.