All eyes will be on Kolkata Knight Riders’ batting unit as Rahane and co. will lock horns with Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens on Thursday. The last time the two sides played at the venue, both sides managed to post 200+ run totals. A repeat of the same is on the cards.
Predicted KKR playing XI vs SRH
| Position | Player | Role |
| 1. | Quinton de Kock (WK) | Batter |
| 2. | Sunil Narine | Bowler |
| 3. | Ajinkya Rahane (C) | Batter |
| 4. | Venkatesh Iyer | Batter |
| 5. | Rinku Singh | Batter |
| 6. | Andre Russell | All-rounder |
| 7. | Ramandeep Singh | All-rounder |
| 8. | Moeen Ali | All-rounder |
| 9. | Harshit Rana | Bowler |
| 10. | Varun Chakravarthy | Bowler |
| 11. | Vaibhav Arora | Bowler |
Openers, middle-order hold key
Barring the game against RR where de Kock scored 97, the KKR opener has been sub-par. He has been dismissed for single digit scores in two out of three matches in IPL 2025. KKR will need both de Kock and his partner Narine to go all guns blazing against a formidable SRH.
KKR suffered a batting-order collapse in their previous game against MI. They will have to avoid a repeat of that when they take on SRH. Captain Rahane, who has been consistent so far, will have to deliver another standout performance. The same goes for Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh and Andre Russell as well.
Angkrish Karghuvanshi is expected to continue serving as the impact player for the defending champions.
Will spinners dominate contest?
KKR have opted for a dry surface at the Eden Gardens. This means that they might have finally gotten what they asked for – a spin-friendly pitch. The trio of Chakravarthy-Narine-Ali, who have failed to fire so far in the tournament, will play a crucial role in dismantling the fiery SRH batting order.
Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora will be expected to support the spinners by chipping in with wickets at regular intervals – both in powerplay and the death.
KKR squad in IPL 2025
Quinton de Kock(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Manish Pandey, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Spencer Johnson, Varun Chakaravarthy, Anrich Nortje, Vaibhav Arora, Anukul Roy, Luvnith Sisodia, Moeen Ali, Rovman Powell, Mayank Markande, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Chetan Sakariya
