IPL 2018: Each franchise's key battles for a spot in the starting XI

Kolkata Knight Riders

Young Shubman Gill will be hoping to feature in the playing eleven for the Knight Riders

Nitish Rana vs. Shubman Gill

The Kolkata Knight Riders bought only 19 players in the auction and don't have many options to play with. To add to their worries, their stars Andre Russell, Chris Lynn and Mitchell Johnson are suffering from injuries and Sunil Narine has been reported for his bowling action yet again.

Their main battle for a berth in the starting 11 is between Indian youngsters Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill. Nitish Rana, who was a replacement for injured Ambati Rayudu in Mumbai's starting XI, started last year's IPL off with a bang. He scored 333 runs last season at an average of over 30 and even managed to keep veteran Rayudu out of the squad for a while. However, he lost his way in the latter half of the season and gradually lost his place in the starting 11. He made up for this in the domestic season, impressing the Knight Riders camp enough for them to purchase him at a sweet INR 3.4 crores.

Though Rana is expected to feature in the Knight Riders' middle order, he will face stiff competition from India's under-19 World Cup star Shubman Gill. He was the vice-captain of India's world cup winning squad and was even named the Player of the Tournament owing to him amassing 372 runs. Some have even touted the 18-year old to be the next Virat Kohli!