By Karan Agrawal 
The 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to begin on Saturday (March 22) with defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders taking on Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The match promises to be a mouthwatering clash between bat and ball with both teams putting their best foot forward to start the campaign on a winning note. This article gets you covered with all the important details of the season opener.
Kolkata Knight Riders
The 2024 IPL champions were able to retain their core in the mega auction held in November last year. Having said that KKR will be without the services of their championship-winning captain Shreyas Iyer who was released by the franchise ahead of the mega auction. The team spun a surprise by appointing Ajinkya Rahane as the captain after picking him in the latter stages of the mega auction instead of appointing Venkatesh Iyer who has been the main say of the team for the last few years and has been appointed as Rahane’s deputy. Nevertheless, Knight Riders still possess a dangerous batting lineup with the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and Sunil Narine making the top three with possibly Iyer coming in as an impact substitute.
The Team
One thing that stands out for KKR is that the team has a good blend of youth and experience in the batting department with the likes of Angkrish Raghuvanshi who impressed everyone with his explosive batting retaining his spot in the squad. As far as Kolkata’s bowling is concerned the Ajinkya Rahane-led side has two experienced spinners in the form of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy who has been in tremendous form. If we talk about KKR’s fast bowling department it would be taken care of by Hatshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora with Russel chipping in with an over or two to give KKR the much-needed stability.
Key Players
Venkatesh Iyer
The fast bowling all-rounder who stole the limelight in the second half of IPL 2021 with his explosive batting while opening the batting for KKR found back his mojo last season and was an integral part of Kolkata Knight Rider’s title-winning campaign by scoring 370 runs in 15 matches at a strike rate of 158.80 while batting in the top three. He along with Phil Salt and Sunil Narine decimated bowling attacks in the powerplay thereby laying a platform for the other batters to come and play big shots from the first ball.
Sunil Narine
Once known as a pinch hitter Sunil Narine has transformed himself into a proper batter and has added method to his madness. One of KKR’s oldest recruits among the current lot Narine was instrumental in helping KKR win their third IPL title by contributing with both bat and ball. The left-arm spinners became the first player to score 500 runs and pick up 15 wickets in an IPL season and formed a good partnership with Varun Chakravarty by effectively choking runs from one end thereby creating pressure on the batters at the other end to increase the scoring with them falling in the trap in an attempt to do so.
Andre Russell
Like Narine, Russell has been an integral part of KKR for over a decade and has made handsome contributions with both bat and ball. The all-rounder has been the backbone of KKR’s lower-order batting with his ability to hit lusty blows in the final five overs. Russell can change the course of a match within a few balls which makes him an asset for KKR. Andre has played some unforgettable knocks against RCB including the one in 2019 where he snatched victory from the jaws of defeat while playing for KKR. The power-hitting all-rounder has also chipped in with handy contributions with the ball especially at the death which has helped KKR restrict the opposition to a par total on various occasions.
Kolkata Knight Riders squad
Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Anrich Nortje, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Spencer Johnson, Luvnith Sisodia, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Chetan Sakariya.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
One of the most talked about teams RCB have found themself in a peculiar situation on many occasion with them needing to win a certain amount of matches to qualify for the playoffs which was the case last season as the 2016 runner-up went on to win six matches on the trot to script an unimaginable turnaround and get into the top four after defeating Chennai Super Kings in their last league match. If we talk about Bengaluru’s squad for the upcoming IPL season the team has undergone a major revamp by releasing players like Will Jacks, Glenn Maxwell, Faf Du Plessis, and Mohammed Siraj all of who played an integral part in helping RCB qualify for the playoffs. Instead, the management decided to bring in players like Lungi Ngidi and Liam Livingstone who haven’t yet lit up the IPL with their performances.
The Concern
Having said that Bengaluru has also roped in experienced players like Bhuvneshwar Kumar to strengthen their bowling department while the batting more or less depends on the top three which comprise of Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, and the new captain Rajat Patidar. Other than the lack of firepower in the batting one of the major issues that RCB needs to address is the lack of experience in the spin department with only Krunal Pandya being at the helm along with Suyash Sharma who is still a rookie when it comes to IPL
Key Players
Virat Kohli
The former Indian captain Virat Kohli rolled the clock back last season with his run-scoring and power-hitting ability which seemed to be a deliberate effort after the right-hander faced criticism for his allegedly slow innings against the Rajasthan Royals. Kohli’s attacking approach at the top of the order laid the platform for the middle-order batters to go for their shots in the final five overs without the thought of getting out crossing their mind.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Bhuvneshwar Kumar who is returning to RCB having last played for them in 2010 will be itching to prove a point after getting dropped from the Indian team in 2022. Bhuvneshwar’s reunion with RCB might prove to be a match made in heaven with RCB lacking the option of an experienced Indian fast bowler which Bhuvneshwar can fulfill.
Rajat Patidar
The newly appointed RCB skipper Rajat Patidar has made a name for himself due to his lethal ball-striking ability against the spinners and his beautiful bat flow. Patidar who scripted one of the most memorable redemption stories in the history of IPL in the 2022 season will play a crucial role both as a captain and as a batter in helping RCB win their first IPL title.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru squad
Rajat Patidar (c), Virat Kohli, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Liam Livingstone, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethel, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chhikara, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh, Mohit Rathee.
Pitch Report
The Pitch at the Eden Garden which traditionally assists spinners started behaving as per its nature last season after being a fast bowler’s paradise after getting relaid in 2017. Keeping that in mind KKR will look to attack RCB with their spin duo of Narine and Chakarvarthy with RCB finding it difficult to replicate it. Having said that the pitch is expected to be good for batting with the new ball coming nicely on the bat. The spinners will only come into play in the middle overs once the ball gets a bit soft.