Weather will be the main concern as Kolkata Knight Riders play Rajasthan Royals in the IPL Eliminator on Wednesday. Rain forced both teams to skip training on Tuesday and there is a chance of rain on Wednesday as well.
Kolkata hold the upper hand as they have not only won both their league games against Rajasthan but are also playing at their home ground – Eden Gardens.
Rajasthan made the cut after Punjab and Mumbai lost their final league games, meaning the Royals won’t have the pressure of expectations.
With star opener Jos Buttler back in England, there is a hole at the top of order for Rajasthan and they can look to open the innings with wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen. They tried out Jofra Archer in that position without success. Klaasen is a proven performer and worth the risk.
The Knight Riders need a special effort from all-rounder Andre Russell as the seam attack is lacking severely in the experience department.
Likely line-ups
Kolkata Knight Riders: Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (c, wk), Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Javon Searles, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna
Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rahul Tripathi, Sanju Samson, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Stuart Binny, K Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Ish Sodhi, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat, Ben Laughlin
