A bit of Team India is what Kolkata Knight Riders will have to deal
with when they face Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma at Eden Gardens on Wednesday.

Mumbai Indians are out of the playoffs race, while for the Knights, it’s a must-win match as they cling to the remotest of hopes. Principal owner Shah Rukh Khan, too, had a few words of advice — for the players to give their all in the remaining games.

The Knights, though, have played better cricket than Mumbai, having won five of their last six games. But the visitors, with nothing to lose, will play with freedom. Also, Mumbai come into the game on the back of a victory over Punjab Kings.

If Mumbai bring out their A-game, they will be a hard nut to crack. Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav have also undergone full-fledged practice in the training sessions leading into Wednesday’s clash.

What matters a lot for the Knights is the availability of Varun Chakravarthy. Against the Gujarat Titans last Saturday, the senior spinner, barring his final over which went for 22, had done a decent job despite discomfort in his left foot.

Varun trained on Tuesday and is likely to play. KKR, however, needs to treat the matter with diligence as Varun is also a centrally contracted player, with not too many days left for India’s away T20Is versus England this July.

The Knights’ Sri Lankan quick Matheesha Pathirana’s condition is still being monitored.

Narine role

Regardless of who plays and who doesn’t, Sunil Narine’s performance will once again be critical in determining the result on Wednesday. Taking vital wickets in almost every game, the economy rate (6.69) of the soon-to-be 38 off-spinner has also been hugely beneficial for KKR this season.

Among his variations, Narine has added the knuckle-ball. His fingers are pressed into the ball and instead of pushing through it, they release the ball with the perfect seam position.

That has helped Narine in the Powerplay when the ball is shiny and also worked later on in the game. When the ball hits the seam, it usually turns more off the pitch.

Allen impact

While the Knights were fortunate that the Titans dropped three easy catches last Saturday, they also deserve credit for latching onto those reprieves. What adds to the confidence of the batting group is the conversion of starts from Finn Allen.

If Allen lasts 30 balls or more, he can be simply devastating. Against the Mumbai attack too, the onus will be on Allen to give the Knights a head start, with the hope that Cameron Green and Rinku Singh will capitalise on it in the later stage of the innings.