Kolkata, May 3: Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are aiming to secure a playoffs spot in IPL 2025. For that to happen mathematically, they need to win their remaining four matches, starting with a home game against the already-eliminated Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Eden Gardens on Sunday afternoon.

The task for seventh-placed KKR is easier said than done, considering their home leg form has been poor - only one win coming from five matches. Their batters have been inconsistent - Rinku Singh and Venkatesh Iyer haven’t been at their run-scoring best while their opening combination never got a settled look.

Captain Ajinkya Rahane is also nursing a hand injury which he picked during their 14-run win over Delhi Capitals (DC) earlier this week – though it is expected that he will be fit in time for Sunday’s game. It’s the bowling where there’s been some solace – spin duo of Sunil Narine, who had a brilliant all-round show in Delhi and Varun Chakaravarthy have been at their best.

Meanwhile, RR have already been eliminated from the race to playoffs after a string of poor results, including a recent 100-run hammering at the hands of five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in Jaipur. Despite this, they can still be dangerous opponents with nothing to lose, as said by Rahane on the Star Sports press room show on Friday.

RR's struggles in IPL 2025 have happened due to lack of depth in both batting and bowling departments, including with regular skipper Sanju Samson being injured for a huge period. 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal have been their bright spots with the bat, while the likes of Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer haven’t been in great form.

Their bowling attack has also lacked penetration, with the likes of Jofra Archer and Maheesh Theekshana being expensive and ineffective. RR have nothing to lose, but KKR have, as the race to IPL 2025 playoffs intensifies with every outcome.

When: Sunday, May 4 at 3:30pm IST

Where: Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Where to watch: Live telecast on Star Sports Network and live streaming on JioHotstar

Squads

Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Quinton de Kock (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Harshit Rana, Luvnith Sisodia, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Anrich Nortje, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Spencer Johnson, and Chetan Sakariya.

Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (c), Riyan Parag, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Rana, Shimron Hetmyer, Jofra Archer, Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Kunal Singh Rathore, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Sandeep Sharma, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya, Kwena Maphaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Fazalhaq Farooqi, and Ashok Sharma.

(IANS)

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