As they attempt to secure their playoff place by defeating an inept Kolkata Knight Riders in the penultimate IPL game, here on Saturday, Lucknow Super Giants will find themselves at home wearing the classic green and maroon shirt of local giants Mohun Bagan.
The genuine home team in this situation, KKR, has not only grumbled about being let down by the circumstances, but their issues also go deeper since they have battled to discover the ideal winning formula in a crazy season and have suffered seven losses. Four of the seven defeats came at Eden Gardens.
Whether it be the bowling, particularly the pace department, which has looked extremely inexperienced, or the batting, which still seems to be a work in progress.
They have embarrassed themselves by fielding, with some of their attempts implying that the two-time winners have shown that they do not ‘belong’ at this level.
While batting first, KKR hitters have just been unable to adjust to the surface, as seen by the subpar totals of 179/7 and 149/8 against Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals, respectively.
In comparison, CSK and SRH scored 235/4 and 228/4 respectively when they were given the opportunity to bat by KKR at the same location.
The KKR are fortunate to have been able to maintain their campaign through the “blow hot-n-cold” season thanks to some individual brilliance from Rinku Singh and Varun Chakravarthy.
With a lot of competition in the middle of the table, it’s possible for four teams to be tied on 14 points, with the club with the best net run rate moving on to the playoffs.
Hanging by a thread, KKR with 12 points would not only need to win by a wide margin, but they would also require the victories of Gujarat Titans (against Royal Challengers Bangalore), Punjab Kings (against Rajasthan Royals), and Sunrisers Hyderabad (against Mumbai Indians) in their respective matches.
However, LSG need not worry too much about the mathematical possibilities since a victory would be sufficient for them to guarantee their back-to-back playoff spot.
In terms of momentum, LSG also seem to be well ahead of a faltering KKR, who have had trouble getting going at their home stadium.
Krunal Pandya seemed to be a natural leader when he was promoted to captain after KL Rahul’s withdrawal due to injury at the conclusion of the season. In particular, the manner he was able to stymie Mumbai Indians while defending 177 says volumes about his leadership.
He seemed to be actively engaged, and his strategic bowling adjustments helped them win by only five runs the other day.
Marcus Stoinis is emerging as LSG’s go-to player in crunch situations and was instrumental in their incredible victory against MI.
He used all of his knowledge to score an 89 not out to extend their innings from 35/3.
Mohsin Khan has been a revelation in bowling, and he and spinner Ravi Bishnoi will try to take advantage of Eden’s languid conditions.
LSG, who will be sporting unique Mohun Bagan colors, will be strengthened even more by the backing of the game’s biggest stars since both clubs share the same owner, the RP Sanjiv Goenka Group.
LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir, who guided KKR to their two victories in 2012 and 2014, will provide all the important contributions behind the scenes.
It’s time for KKR to start over and think about what went wrong this season.
Squads
Kolkata Knight Riders: Nitish Rana (c), Jason Roy, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, N. Jagadeesan, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma, David Wiese, Kulwant Khejroliya, Litton Das, Mandeep Singh and Aarya Desai.
Lucknow Super Giants: Krunal Pandya (c), Ayush Badoni, Karan Sharma, Manan Vohra, Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Krishnappa Gowtham, Deepak Hooda, Kyle Mayers, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Mark Wood, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Nicholas Pooran, Yash Thakur, Romario Shepherd, Daniel Sams, Amit Mishra, Prerak Mankad, Swapnil Singh, Naveen-ul-Haq, Yudhvir Charak and Karun Nair.
Match begins at 7:30 p.m.