Kolkata Knight Riders haven’t been themselves, still bowling first despite botching up a couple of run-chases in a row and have only their performances, batting order to blame. Can the defending champions get over the horror of 95 all-out and stay alive in IPL 2025?
It is a sort of middle-of-the-road contest in the 2025 edition of the IPL but with the playoffs just three weeks away, apart from the Punjab Kings, all eight other teams will be cheering for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who haven’t been at their best in the 2025 edition of the IPL. The batting failures haven’t helped as the line-up feels overstuffed and underpowered, with the batting going on until No 9 but still not being able to chase down scores of 112 on one occasion and 199 on the other.
The horrors and demons of 95 all-out in the 112-run chase might still be playing on the Knight Riders’ minds but they have to let them go away as they try to get their campaign back on track in the ongoing IPL season. The Punjab Kings are against them yet again. KKR’s only chance to get over those demons will be to register a win at home against the Kings, led by their former captain Shreyas Iyer.
The Kings, too have had their issues in the last few games, having lost two out of the three matches they have played. Mullanpur wasn’t really auspicious for the side but they got out of it and are on the road for a couple of games. Do the Kings go back to Glenn Maxwell or stay with Josh Inglis will be their conundrum as the bowling despite a change here or there has looked settled but apart from Marco Jansen, their overseas contingent hasn’t really stood up so far.
My Dream11 team for IPL 2025 Match 44, KKR vs PBKS
Priyansh Arya, Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Shreyas Iyer (vc), Marcus Stoinis, Nehal Wadhera, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Yuzvendra Chahal, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh (c)
Probable Playing XIIs
Kolkata Knight Riders: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ajinkya Rahane (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Sunil Narine, Anrich Nortje, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora
Punjab Kings: Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer (c), Josh Inglis / Glenn Maxwell, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Vyshak Vijaykumar