KKR Predicted Playing 11 vs RCB for Match 36 of IPL 2024

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will face the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Match 36 of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Eden Gardens on Sunday, April 21.

While the Knight Riders will head into the match on the back of a defeat, they have been one of the teams to watch out for this season. With four wins from six matches and boasting the best net run rate in IPL 2024, KKR are third in the standings.

Things have gone well for Kolkata on the whole, and they might not be inclined to make too many tweaks to a winning combination.

KKR's squad for IPL 2024: Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sunil Narine, Phil Salt, Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, KS Bharat, Chetan Sakariya, Mitchell Starc, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ramandeep Singh, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey, Allah Ghazanfar, Dushmantha Chameera, Sakib Hussain.

Here's KKR's predicted playing XII (including one impact sub) for Match 36 of IPL 2024 against RCB.

---

Openers: Phil Salt (wk) and Sunil Narine

KKR's openers have been simply incredible in IPL 2024. Sunil Narine is up there on the Orange Cap list, while Phil Salt has played a couple of destructive knocks. They will want to be at the forefront of things once again against an RCB powerplay bowling unit that has underwhelmed.

---

Middle order: Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, and Rinku Singh

Shreyas Iyer's strike rate and general lack of rhythm are concerns for the Knight Riders, who haven't seen their middle order always capitalize on the platform laid by the openers. Venkatesh Iyer hasn't been in the best of form either, but the southpaw essayed a good knock in the reverse fixture and could be retained.

Nitish Rana has reportedly been available for selection for a couple of games now, but he hasn't even made the impact subs list. With no official word on his non-selection, it's safe to assume that he will remain sidelined.

Rinku Singh has been dealing with a side strain and could thus be subbed out for an impact player. The rest of KKR's middle order will likely feature the same names - Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, and Ramandeep Singh.

---

Lower order: Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy

KKR might consider replacing Vaibhav Arora with Suyash Sharma since RCB have certain issues against spin. But that would leave them with just two frontline fast bowlers, and with one of them being the expensive Mitchell Starc, they could be in trouble.

Harshit Rana and Varun Chakaravarthy have been largely impressive for the Knight Riders and are expected to continue in the same vein.

---

KKR's predicted playing XII (inc impact sub): Phil Salt (wk), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy.

Other impact sub candidates: Anukul Roy, Chetan Sakariya, Sakib Hussain, Manish Pandey, Suyash Sharma.