Thursday, 24 April 2025
Thursday, 24 April 2025
With momentum on their side after a win over Chennai Super Kings, the Kolkata Knight Riders head into their Tuesday showdown against Punjab Kings in Mullanpur with confidence.
Dominant in this rivalry, KKR have claimed 21 wins in 33 encounters, but under the leadership of their captain Shreyas Iyer, PBKS will be eager to shift the narrative.
As both teams look to assert themselves in the mid-season playoff race, it’s the match-ups on the field that could determine where and when the game is won.
Shreyas Iyer vs Varun Chakaravarthy
We have already seen the attacking intent that Shreyas has been playing with since taking over the PBKS captaincy. But Chakravarthy is the challenge for him because batters mostly fail against him if they try to take the aerial route.
Sunil Narine vs Glenn Maxwell
Glenn Maxwell is out of form. Sunil Narine has roared back to form with a stunning performance against CSK. On 15 occasions that Maxwell has faced Narine in T20s he has only hit one six. Having faced 64 balls Maxwell has only managed 62 runs against Narine at a strike-rate of 96.87 while losing his wicket to him four times.
Ajinkya Rahane vs Yuzvendra Chahal
Chahal is the highest wicket taker in IPL history and his variations are hard to pick up for anyone, specially a batter like Rahane whose struggles against spinners are known. Rahane has previously lost his wicket to Chahal thrice. Rahane has managed 45 runs with three fours and no sixes in 42 balls bowled by Chahal.
Arshdeep Singh vs Quinton de Kock
Besides the match winning 97 against Rajasthan Royals, Quinton de Kock hasn’t shown his true form. Arshdeep has picked up 7 wickets in 5 games this season and although Arshdeep has only picked up the wickets of left handers 33 times he also gets hammered at a strike-rate 149.10 against them. So his battle, not just against de Kock, but also Narine, will be the one to watch.
Venkatesh Iyer vs Marco Jansen
In five matches this season Marco Jansen has picked up three wickets and has been very expensive with his economy rate at over 11. KKRs most expensive signing for the season, Venkatesh Iyer has struck form. While the South African quick might look to bang it in short, Venky’s use of the pull shot has been rather exquisite this season, proving KKR a late flourish towards the end of the innings.
