Kamal Ghorui
AHMEDABAD: It’s been an awful start to the season for threetime IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Without a win in five matches and just one point from a rain-marred encounter, the Knight Riders languish at the bottom of the table with a solitary point.Sidelined by the absence of their premier pacers, the waning form of two premier spinners – Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy – and a batting line-up that seems bereft of confidence, KKR run into Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium just when the hosts are gathering momentum. GT have recovered from the two losses in their opening two matches and arrive at their citadel on the back of two triumphs.This rivalry has favoured GT historically, who have won three of the four matches. However, the only match GT lost produced one of the most dramatic finishes in the IPL history, with a then little-known Rinku Singh smashing five sixes off five Yash Dayal balls to script a famous, comefrom-behind triumph.
Rinku’s batting this season, though, has been a shadow of the past. Though Angkrish Raghuvanshi and captain Ajinkya Rahane have been among runs, it is the form (or lack of it) of Finn Allen and Cameron Green that has let KKR down.Against GT, KKR batters run into a confident bowling line-up led by Purple Cap holder Prasidh Krishna. The pacer’s variations have made things difficult in the middle overs. Mohammed Siraj, Kagiso Rabada, Ashok Sharma and leg-spinner Rashid Khan have backed up Prasidh with reasonably incisive bowling.
