There is a lot of hype & buzz around the 3rd match of IPL 2024 which is between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) & Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Both the sides had a topsy turvy IPL 2023 and now would be aiming to start afresh in the high voltage tournament. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are quite a tough team to beat at their home ground and at the same time, the owners have recalled Gautam Gambhir who will be a part of coaching staff as a mentor.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
All eyes will be on the KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer who would be roaring to make a mark that he is not finished yet as we all know that how BCCI ignored and refused him to give a national contract. Shreyas Iyer along with Nitish Rana will have to do the bulk of scoring in the middle overs phase. Rinku Singh along with Sunil Narine and the swashbuckling all-rounder Andre Russell need to finish the innings on a high note.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
SRH’s owners & management have taken a huge risk by naming Pat Cummins as the leader for the 2024 edition. The speedster doesn’t have any significant experience of leading a T20 side. Cummins along with the newly appointed head coach Daniel Vettori will have to formulate strategies and try different combinations as these time all the teams are evenly matched. SRH fans would be hoping that the side at-least competes which was missing in the previous edition.
Probable XIs
Kolkata Knight Riders (XI): Venkatesh Iyer, Phil Salt, Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Mitchell Starc, Suyash Sharma, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ramandeep Singh
Sunrisers Hyderabad (XI): Mayank Agarwal, Travis Head, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar, Pat Cummins, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, T Natarajan
Dream 11 Picks:
Travis Head, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Mitchell Starc, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Prediction
KKR are red hot favorites to win the contest as they have a strong batting line up and there are chances that dew may come into action during the second innings which would mean that no total is safe at Eden Gardens. SRH on the other side will have to play exceedingly well as the main problem for their side is their batters struggle against the spinners and there are high chances that KKR might go in with 3 frontline spinners.