IPL 2024: Predicting 3 players who could pick up the most wickets in today's KKR vs PBKS match

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) are miles apart in the IPL 2024 points table. However, a massive factor in that has been their fortunes in close games. KKR have been on the right side of many last-over thrillers while PBKS have had to hold the shorter straw in such cases.

Now, as KKR try to cement their place in the top four, PBKS would want to play apt to its potential to stay alive, creating an interesting dynamic. Then there's also the extra kick of Ashutosh Sharma, an entertaining PBKS side's biggest prospect, playing in front of his former coach Chandrakant Pandit.

Most matches between these two teams, right from the 2014 final, have seen some breathtaking performances and this one at the Eden Gardens looks set up for something similar.

Below, we have tried to predict three bowlers who can highlight the show by picking up the most wickets:

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#3 Kagiso Rabada

PBKS' Kagiso Rabada is one of the few tearaway quicks regularly playing in IPL 2024. That particular skill has been a weakness for KKR over the years but they haven't been tested against it a lot in IPL 2024 yet, especially at the Eden Gardens which has supported fast bowlers with bounce and a bit of variation off the surface.

Rabada has had a rough week but he has picked up at least one wicket in seven of the eight matches this season. His record against KKR is excellent too - 12 wickets at an average of 24.33, with four of those coming at the Eden in two matches.

KKR's best batter so far, Sunil Narine, has struggled against Rabada in the past and hasn't looked comfortable against high pace in IPL 2024. Venkatesh Iyer and Andre Russell have lost their wickets to the South African before too. Given his ability to bowl in all phases, Rabada would be the biggest threat for KKR.

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#2 Harshit Rana

Harshit Rana has been KKR's best bowler at the Eden in IPL 2024, with seven of his nine wickets in the season coming here. He's tall, silky with his slower ones, and smart with his use of angles which gets the best out of the surface.

The youngster took the new ball in the last match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and snapped up the wicket of Virat Kohli. This time, he'll be up against an unsettled PBKS top-order, which is also the team's biggest weakness.

Ashutosh, Shashank Singh, and Jitesh Sharma in the lower order would give him a good fight but with the wickets of Heinrich Klaasen and Riyan Parag, he has shown his ability to find his space in death overs as well.

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#1 Sunil Narine

After picking up a wicket each in his first five matches of IPL 2024, KKR veteran Sunil Narine has two wickets each in his last two games. This has been his most consistent wicket-taking run in years and he has just looked a class apart so far.

PBKS have had the worst experiences of playing against him over the years compared to any other team in the IPL. Narine has a whopping 33 wickets against them in 26 matches at an average of 19.91. The love affair began from his first IPL match against them in 2012 when he picked up his best spell of 5/19 at the Eden.

Although this PBKS side has much better players of spin than some of the previous ones, if Narine catches his rhythm early, he'd run a riot.