Picking a combined KKR-LSG playing 11 for IPL 2024 ft. Sunil Narine, Nicholas PooranÂ
The 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) returns to Eden Gardens as the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) host the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Sunday, April 14, in an afternoon encounter. Both teams were handed a loss in the previous encounter and will be looking to return to winning ways and remain in the top four.
KKR are yet to defeat LSG in the IPL, having lost three on the trot since the 2022 season. The Shreyas Iyer-led side will be looking to mend that record, considering that a couple of those losses were marginal. The Knight Riders will relish the opportunity to be back in their home territory after being caught out by alien conditions at the Chepauk against Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
On the other hand, LSG's momentum after gathering three consecutive wins came to a halt as DC ended their impressive defensive streak with a six-wicket win in Lucknow. To make matters worse, they will also be without their star pacer Mayank Yadav as he continues to recover from a niggle.
On that note, let us take a look at a combined KKR-LSG playing 11 for IPL 2024.
Top order: Sunil Narine, KL Rahul, and Venkatesh Iyer
The revival of Sunil Narine the batter has been one of the biggest positives for KKR in the ongoing campaign. The left-handed batter has taken and decimated the opposition bowling attack in the powerplay phase, scoring 161 runs at a strike rate of 189.41.
KL Rahul has not had the greatest of campaigns so far, but the LSG skipper is potentially not far away from a noteworthy knock. The extinction of the anchor role has affected the volume of runs from Rahul's bat, but still, he holds a lot of relevance in the Lucknow batting unit.
Venkatesh Iyer's batting position in the KKR unit is not defined, particularly after Angkrish Raghuvanshi's rise, and the confusion is only bound to increase with Nitish Rana's return. However, he comes across as a valuable addition to the combined XI being a left-handed batter and continuing the burst of aggression that is persistent till the lower order.
Middle order: Nicholas Pooran, Rinku Singh, and Andre Russell
Nicholas Pooran has made a solid case for being one of the most explosive batters in the shortest format. Although the southpaw was bamboozled by Kuldeep Yadav recently for a golden duck, that does not take away anything that he has done so far.
With KKR's batting unit living up to its potential, Rinku Singh has not had much to do. Last season he had to carry the batting unit, leading to a breakthrough season. However, the left-handed batter has done enough with his little cameos to make it to the middle-order combined playing XI.
Andre Russell is arguably the first name on the team sheet whether it be for KKR or any sort of combined playing XI involving KKR. The all-rounder has been destructive with the bat and impactful with the ball, playing a huge role in KKR's near-perfect start to the tournament. Russell has been striking it at 212.96 and has taken five wickets. If he can maintain these all-round levels without injury, KKR can go a long way.
Lower order: Mitchell Starc, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Yash Thakur, and Harshit Rana
With Sunil Narine already there in the combined XI as the lead spinner, the spin attack is bolstered by Ravi Bihsnoi and Varun Chakravarthy's inclusion. Both are vital cogs and despite their lack of genuine turn, they make it up with their immense control and variations to keep the batters guessing.
Mitchell Starc, although still far from his best, has improved across the last couple of matches. The left-arm pacer has not found much movement with the new ball, which is integral to his threat. He was wicketless in his first two matches and had conceded 100 runs in eight overs in the process as well. However, he bowled a solid 2-25 spell against DC to show some promise.
The Indian uncapped duo of Yash Thakur and Harshit Rana complete the combined team. Both youngsters have had their moments in the early stages of the competitions.
Thakur became the first bowler to bag a five-wicket haul in IPL 2024 with figures of 5-31 against the Gujarat Titans (GT). Harshit Rana, on the other hand, kept Heinrich Klaasen at bay during KKR's season opener against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).