The political landscape in the city has changed since the Kolkata Knight Riders last played here at Eden Gardens on April 19. But what hasn’t changed is the Knight Riders’ predicament.
When they left Calcutta after beating Rajasthan Royals, the Knights had a mountain to climb in order to secure a playoffs berth. Back in the city after almost a month, they are still staring at the mountain and it looks steeper than before. Their hopes for a playoffs berth is hanging on by a thread following the loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru last Wednesday.
Another loss on Saturday, against a charged-up Gujarat Titans, will simply crush the Knights’ playoffs dreams. Ajinkya Rahane and his teammates thus are left with no other option but to beat the Shubman Gill-led side in the first of their remaining three clashes, all must-win ones.
Such is the Knights’ plight at present that one could gauge their desperation to get Varun Chakravarthy, who missed the previous game due to a fracture in his left leg, back in the team.
Obviously, to come up trumps against the Titans, who have been on a roll with five successive wins, the Knights need to have their best XI in action.
But when Varun took the field midway through Friday’s training session at the Eden, he seemed to be walking with a bit of discomfort in his injured leg. However, he still underwent three rounds of bowling, which implies his availability for Saturday’s game remains a possibility.
The official update from KKR late on Friday evening was that the medical team and coaching staff are keeping a close eye on the senior spinner’s progress and availability.
It seems KKR may wait till an hour or so before the toss on Saturday, giving Varun time for further recovery. Earlier in the day, the Eden pitch appeared to be encouraging for the spinners — on the drier side with minimal grass.
But the late-evening squall might change the equations.
The pitch and outfield covers went for a toss as the downpour, accompanied by strong winds, lashed the Eden. The groundstaff tried to get the covers back as quickly as they could, but such was the intensity that the pitch was already quite wet.
Remaining under covers for the night, one would now expect some moisture on the surface on Saturday. Titans’ quicks Mohammed Siraj, Kagiso Rabada and Jason Holder won’t be complaining.
What the Knights do remains to be seen. If the dependable Varun returns, one of the quicks will have to sit out. The axe may fall on left-arm quick Saurabh Dubey. Vaibhav Arora is the one struggling, but benching him would be a bold move.
In another development, Rachin Ravindra, who didn’t feature in any of the games, has returned home to preparefor New Zealand’s Test tour
of England.
