Will Litton make it into KKR XI against CSK?

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will take on high-flying Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on April 23. KKR have lost 3 consecutive games and will look to stop the rot against CSK with a strong performance in front of their fans. Having lost four and won only two of their six games so far, KKR are eighth out of ten teams on the points table.

After the opening game defeat to Punjab Kings (PBKS). Kolkata Knight Riders defeated RCB comfortably at the Eden gardens and then won their second match in a row as they beat Gujarat Titans (GT) by three wickets in a thriller at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. 

But the batters could not repeat their heroics against SRH as they fell short by 23 runs while chasing a target of 228 in Kolkata. KKR then lost to the Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede. MI comfortably chased down the target of 186 with five wickets in hand and 14 balls to spare. Last time out, KKR lost to DC by four wickets in Delhi. They were comfortably second best to a DC side who had before the game lost all five of their games this season.

The top-order once again capitulated as in the previous games but this time the middle and lower-middle order could not fire either and KKR found themselves teetering at 96/9, eventually posting 127 thanks to a final over blitz from Andre Russell. Jason Roy along with Russell were the only ones that made any notable contribution in the batting effort of the team.

The middle-order had been the saviour for KKR this season before the Delhi game. Venkatesh Iyer has scored 234 runs in six innings this season. Rinku Singh and captain Nitish Rana have ably supported him with 180 and 154 runs to their names respectively.

The opening partnership has failed to make any notable contribution for KKR so far this season and the team have thereafter lost multiple wickets cheaply. KKR have already tried Mandeep Singh and N Jagadeesan at the top this season. Neither have made the desirable impact on the game. Rahmanullah Gurbaz has also failed in the last few games and was replaced by Litton Das for the game against DC. Das could continue as the wicket-keeper batter in the line-up and Roy might be replaced in order to bring Lockie Ferguson back into the side.

Part-timers Rana and Anukul Roy did their best to make it difficult for the DC batters along with Chakravarthy but in the end there weren't enough runs on the board in the last game.

The spinners have been the main wicket-takers this season for KKR. Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Suyash Sharma have scalped 21 wickets between them at an economy of 8. Russell has also chipped in with 3 wickets in the four overs he has bowled so far but has leaked a lot of runs.

The seamers have been underwhelming so far this season. Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson and Shardul Thakur have combined for just 6 wickets in the six games.

Shardul Thakur's absence from the line-up against DC was not explained and if fit he is expected to come back in to replace Khejroliya. Jagadeesan might also be brought in to open alongside Das in place of Mandeep Singh.

If KKR bat first Suyash Sharma could be brought on as the Impact player in the second innings. Whereas, Venkatesh Iyer could be brought on as the Impact Player if they field first.

KKR's likely XI vs CSK:
Openers: Litton Das (wk), N Jagadeesan.

Middle Order: Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer.

All-Rounders: Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur.

Bowlers: Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy.

Impact Player:
Suyash Sharma and Venkatesh Iyer are the Impact Player options for KKR, depending on whether they bat or field first.