As KKR gets ready to face SunRisers Hyderabad, they could make changes to their squad from their opening night.
Kolkata Knight Riders got their campaign off to a poor start as they were outplayed by defending champions Mumbai Indians in their opener. While their big-hitters failed to connect with the bat, Shivam Mavi and Sunil Narine’s bowling were the only positives from the game which they KKR lost by 49 runs.
Now, as they get ready to face SunRisers Hyderabad, they could make changes to their squad from their opening night.
The major part of the squad is expected to remain unchanged, but Rinku Singh – who has had a good domestic season – could get a go-ahead of Nikhil Naik – who did not do a lot against MI. The Uttar Pradesh-born is a livewire on the field and is a pinch-hitter. It would be interesting to see where he bats and the role he will be given.
Prasidh Krishna could also be picked as he has sound experience of playing the league and performs well under pressure ahead of Sandeep Warrier. He can bowl fast and has the knack of landing in the yorkers.
The rest of the squad would remain unchanged, but there could be changes in the batting order. It would be interesting to see where Karthik – who walked in at No 3 – bats against SRH. Shubman Gill and Sunil Narine will continue to open in all likelihood.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Sunil Narine, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik(w/c), Nikhil Naik, Pat Cummins, Kuldeep Yadav, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi
Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Shivam Mavi, Sandeep Warrier, Kuldeep Yadav, Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine, Nikhil Naik, Manimaran Siddharth, Andre Russell, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Siddhesh Lad, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Tom Banton, Chris Green, Rahul Tripathi
