The 18th match of the IPL 2021 will see Rajasthan Royals (RR) taking on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The match will be played at 7.30 PM IST on April 24, 2021.
Both the teams are at a conundrum with them losing consecutive matches, and Rajasthan has slipped to the bottom of the points table, while Kolkata is placed on the 6th spot.
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Both have lost their last matches in crushing fashion, as KKR failed to chase a total of 220 and RR couldn’t pick a single wicket against RCB while defending 177 runs.
This will be a huge match for both teams as the IPL 2021 moves forward and all teams have played at least 4 matches each till now. Therefore, Team COC presents to you the Predicted Playing XIs for the RR v KKR match at Mumbai.
RAJASTHAN ROYALS (RR)
Rajasthan Royals (RR) suffered one of the most embarrassing defeats as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) chased down 177 runs without losing a wicket as Devdutt Padikkal scored 101* and Virat Kohli made 72* and had more than 3 overs in hand.
For RR, nothing is going right, as their batsmen are not able to score runs right from the start. Openers Manan Vohra and Jos Buttler have not been able to give the team flying or even decent starts. Hence, RR might look to shake things up and Yashasvi Jaiswal might replace Vohra at the top.
They are sorely missing Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer, both of whom are missing the IPL 2021 due to their respective injuries. David Miller, Shivam Dube, and Riyan Parag have done whatever they could, but it seems it is not enough.
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Rahul Tewatia is the only spinner in the team and has done well with the bat also. Shreyas Gopal was given a chance against RCB, but was carted to all parts of the Wankhede and might not get a second straight match.
In the bowling department, Chris Morris is leading the attack along with three left-handed pacers in Mustafizur Rahman, Jaydev Unadkat, and Chetan Sakariya. Sakariya has been the find of the tournament for RR thus far. But for this tough match, RR might bring in Andre Tye for Mustafizur to break the monotony of left-handers.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS (KKR)
Eoin Morgan’s Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have been unable to get things right as well and are in the same boat as Royals. They have lost their last three matches on a trot and have their hands tied when it comes to certain decisions.
One of the problems is the nonperformance of opener Shubman Gill whose highest score in 4 matches has been 33 and got out on a golden duck in the last match against CSK. KKR hasn’t gotten a decent opening partnership at the top because of this problem, though Nitish Rana has done brilliantly with two half-centuries.
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Rahul Tripathi at no.3 has been a good move, but despite getting good starts, he converted only one of them into a half-century. This failure of top order has been the problem for KKR.
The middle-order has not done any better, but Morgan, Karthik, Russell, and others have shown intent to score runs and almost chased down 220 against CSK, thanks to their efforts despite the top four getting out for single-digit scores.
The form of Karthik and Russell is crucial for them and both of them came into their own against CSK, a piece of good news. Even Pat Cummins smashed a few out of Wankhede stadium and his bowling at the death is a blessing for them.
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What not has been a blessing is the performance of their Indian pacers, as Prasidh Krishna has been not up to par and has leaked runs consistently. Shivam Mavi might get a chance to partner with his former U19 India teammate Kamlesh Nagarkoti and both of them might bring the magic to life once again.
Varun Chakravarthy has been the only silver lining for KKR in the bowling department and Sunil Narine is a great second spinner to have in the side, with the bonus being his batting abilities.
This match is crucial for both teams, as a win here for either can set them on a path of resurgence.
COC RR Predicted Playing XI:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (C&WK), David Miller, Shivam Dube, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Chetan Sakariya
COC KKR Predicted Playing XI:
Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (C), Dinesh Karthik (WK), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Varun Chakravarthy
