Beating Chennai Super Kings in Chennai is one of the toughest jobs in IPL. So the Kolkata Knight Riders have quite a task on their hands on Monday.
But what are the Knights doing to get ready? It was learnt that on Sunday, in the Knights’ dressing room, the video of the team’s five-wicket win over the Super Kings in the IPL 2012 final in Chennai was shown. The idea behind the move is obvious, it’s an injection of inspiration to tell the players what needs to be done to beat a team who are more dangerous when playing at their den.
However, given how things have gone so far this year, the Knights seem better placed mindset-wise. Shreyas Iyer’s team have won all their three games so far, while the Super Kings lost their last two out of the four appearances they have had in the current edition.
So the Knights should not be short on confidence at least when they take on the five-time champions at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Monday.
The 106-run win over Delhi Capitals in Visakhapatnam last week was certainly a dream game for the Knights. From both batting and bowling perspectives, they were as good as perfect.
Sunil Narine, back to opening the innings in their previous two matches, has been a huge difference-maker for the Knights. Even Andre Russell looks a lot more rejuvenated in this IPL, while Rinku Singh is looking even sharper than last year. Gautam Gambhir’s presence in the dressing room as the team mentor has a lot to do with that, KKR assistant coach Abhishek Nayar said.
Talking about CSK, neither their batting group nor the bowlers are in the best rhythm, while they missed quicks Mustafizur Rahman and Matheesha Pathirana badly against the Sunrisers Hyderabad last Friday.
However, sources in the Bangladesh Cricket Board said matters pertaining to Mustafizur’s US visa formalities for the T20 World Cup have been sorted and the left-arm quick had boarded the flight for Chennai (from Dhaka) on Sunday evening. This means he could well be on CSK’s roster for Monday.
If Pathirana too recovers in time, CSK’s bowling will regain its teeth and may
well pose problems for the buoyant Knights.
Spinners may get some purchase from the Chennai pitch. In that case, it will be interesting to see what combination the two teams opt for.