One can guess the kind of pressure Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be feeling going into Monday’s clash against a buoyant Punjab Kings at Eden Gardens.

It's tough for the Knights not just because Punjab are last year's finalists and are playing great this season too, but also because Ajinkya Rahane's team have lost their first two games.

Before taking on a unit led smartly and robustly by former Knight Shreyas Iyer, who has a fair amount of knowledge of both the Eden conditions and quite a few KKR cricketers, the Knights would have been in a slightly better position had they won at least one game.

The on-field matters aside, both teams will also be having an eye on the sky. A spell of rain till early evening led both KKR and Punjab to cancel their pre-match training sessions on Sunday. Showers are predicted on Monday evening as well.

More than the Knights, who are yet to open their account in the ongoing edition, it’s Punjab who could be more disturbed if rain plays spoilsport on Monday, as it can hurt their rhythm gained following the victories over Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings.

However, the confidence with which Punjab have been operating since last year and the self-assurance of most of their players so far in this edition is certainly noteworthy.

“Yes, the planning that is there is very precise against KKR,” Punjab's assistant bowling coach Trevor Gonsalves stated.

Shreyas has led KKR in nine matches at the Eden, winning six of them. If the Knights, whose main area of concern is their bowling, don’t buck up in the Powerplay, especially against Punjab's explosive opening duo of Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh, captain Shreyas has every possibility of bettering his winning percentage at the Eden, though the Knights will not like it.

Acknowledging the situation, KKR bowling coach Tim Southee said: "Yeah, it's always hard in the Powerplay when you're not taking wickets.

"Any time throughout the batting innings, especially in the Powerplay, if you take wickets, it stems the run flow. But we haven't quite managed to do that so far.

“We’ll plan again accordingly for tomorrow's (Monday’s) opposition and hopefully be able to take those early wickets in the Powerplay.”

Surprisingly, among the five KKR players who practised at the Cricket Association of Bengal’s indoor training facilities, only one bowler — Varun Chakravarthy — had turned up. That, at a time when the entire bowling attack is under the pump.

In terms of the combination, it remains to be seen if KKR make a tweak or two. And regarding all-rounder Cameron Green, they hope he can "bowl soon in the games to come."