A Royal test awaits Kolkata

Having endured a forgettable outing in the first half of the Indian Premier League 2021, Kolkata Knight Riders would look for a reversal of fortunes when it resumes its campaign against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the second phase here on Monday.

While Kolkata is languishing at the seventh spot with four points, Virat Kohli-led Bangalore is in the top half of the standings with 10 points out of a possible 14. The Eoin Morgan-captained KKR would hope to make a stunning turnaround, just like it did in 2014 when it won nine games in a row to clinch its second title.

But, it would be easier said than done as Kolkata will come up against a formidable outfit in Bangalore. Even though KKR leads in the headto-head record against RCB, the 38run defeat to Kohli’s team in the first half could run on the players’ minds.

After failing to deliver on a consistent basis earlier in the season, Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana would be keen to fire in the batting department. Besides the duo, skipper Morgan would need to let his bat do the talking and lead from the front. Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Rahul Tripathi and Shakib Al Hasan too need to come good for KKR if the franchise harbours any hopes of making it to the play-offs.

Kolkata’s bowling department could be spearheaded by Tim Southee, who came in as a replacement for Pat Cummins for the second half. Bangalore is currently placed in a comfortable position and would hope that captain Kohli plays freely.

With Glenn Maxwell (223 runs from 7 games) and AB de Villiers (207 runs from 7 games) leading the scoring chart for the team, RCB’s batting unit looks ominous. On the bowling front, Mohammed Siraj and Kyle Jamieson are expected to lead the attack which also has Harshal Patel, Navdeep Saini and Yuzvendra Chahal. The additions of the Sri Lanka duo of Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera hold the team in good stead.