Big Picture
Gautam Gambhir v Quinton de Kock. Robin Uthappa v Shreyas Iyer. Yusuf
Pathan v Karun Nair. Andre Russell v Carlos Brathwaite. Shakib Al Hasan v
Pawan Negi. T20 experience v T20 exuberance. An ensemble cast v a bunch
of apprentices.
Kolkata Knight Riders' push for their third title has become stronger, with Sunil Narine's reworked action getting a clean chit from the ICC
two days before the start of the tournament. Narine, however, isn't a
certainty for the first match, having returned to West Indies following
his father's death. Shakib is ever present in Knight Riders' attack, and
Brad Hogg, 45, the inspiration behind T20I's oldest debutant Ryan Campbell,
is still fit and ready to step in. Kuldeep Yadav, also a chinaman
bowler, although 24 years younger than Hogg, provides another spin
option. And the ensemble has got bigger with the cheap addition (INR 30
lakh, or USD 44,000 approx) of Colin Munro who can switch-hit fast
bowlers for sixes. Munro is not just about brawn; he has it in him to
grind it out as he showed against Mustafizur Rahman-powered Bangladesh
at Knight Riders' den during the World T20.
Daredevils let go of 11 players and rebuilt their squad and support
staff, laced with a flavour of Rajasthan Royals. Iyer, the torchbearer
of Daredevils' youth force, is not far from breaking into the team's
top-ten run-getters list, after only one IPL season. Brathwaite, who
went 6,6,6,6
to seal West Indies' second World T20 title a week ago at Eden Gardens,
is billed as the other face of the team. However, there are plenty of
concerns in the bowling department. The injured Joel Paris has already withdrawn
from the tournament, the fit-again Mohammed Shami lacks match time, and
to top it all captain Zaheer Khan has not played competitive cricket
since the last IPL.
In the spotlight
At the 2015 IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders sent #MuscleRussell trending. He
was called the "Dre Russ" at the Big Bash League, where the Jamaican
duck-hooked a skiddy bouncer from Doug Bollinger for a one-bounce four
over square leg. At the PSL,
Andre Russell was the leading wicket-taker. He has won the BPL, BBL, PSL and World T20 this season. An IPL title will be the perfect topping.
Pawan Negi,
listed at a base price of INR 30 lakh (USD 44,000 approx), was
purchased for INR 8.5 crore (USD 1.3m approx) at the auction, following
consistent bowling performances in the Vijay Hazare (India's domestic
one-dayers) and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (the domestic T20 competition).
He then made his international debut
for India at the Asia Cup. Negi, a T20 specialist who was earlier with
Chennai Super Kings, can also swing his bat in the lower-middle order,
but a hefty price tag brings pressure. Ask Yuvraj Singh. Ask Dinesh
Karthik.
Team news
If Narine isn't available, Knight Riders have a few back-up options,
including Piyush Chawla. They will have to make a choice on the pace
front between Morne Morkel and John Hastings. Morkel wasn't part of
South Africa's World T20 squad, while Hastings got only one match in
that tournament.
Kolkata Knight Riders (probable) 1 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 2 Robin
Uthappa (wk), 3 Manish Pandey, 4 Shakib Al Hasan, 5 Yusuf Pathan, 6
Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Brad Hogg/Sunil Narine, 9 Piyush
Chawla/Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Morne Morkel/John Hastings
With de Kock in good form, Daredevils will want him to open and spend as
much time as possible in the middle. Sanju Samson might beat Mayank
Agarwal to the XI.
Delhi Dardedevils (probable) 1 Shreyas Iyer, 2 Quinton de Kock
(wk), 3 Sanju Samson/Mayank Agarwal, 4 JP Duminy, 5 Karun Nair, 6 Carlos
Brathwaite, 7 Pawan Negi, 8 Zaheer Khan (capt), 9 Mohammed Shami 10
Amit Mishra, 11 Imran Tahir
Pitch and conditions
With dew likely to come into play later in the night, chasing might be
the way to go at Eden Gardens. The weather is expected to be fine for
the duration of the match.
Stats and trivia
- Knight Riders' squad has an experience of 2365 matches, while Daredevils' has a count of 1471
- Gambhir is among the top run-getters for Knight Riders as well as Daredevils. He tops the list for Knight Riders with 2346 runs at a strike rate of 124.65. For his former team, Gambhir is the fourth-highest, with 1115 runs at a strike rate of 122.52
Quotes
"I feel proud to be able to play at the Eden in KKR's colours. I'm happy
with my contribution in the last few seasons… I think our team is
stronger than before."
Kolkata Knight Riders allrounder Shakib Al Hasan
"He is an inspiration. I was part of Royal Challengers Bangalore when he
was there and, that time, I wasn't playing so it was huge step for me
to be in the same dressing room. Now having the opportunity to play
under him [is] great. We can all learn so much from him."
Delhi Daredevils batsman Karun Nair on captain Zaheer Khan's influence
