Depleted KKR look to get their campaign going against LSG

Big picture – LSG’s bowling vs KKR’s batting

Lucknow Super Giants have been the best powerplay bowling side in IPL 2026. In two games, they have picked up seven wickets in the first six overs and have an economy of just 4.58, comfortably the best in the tournament. At the other end are Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who have a powerplay batting run-rate of 11.29 in IPL 2026, the second-best in the tournament so far, but they have lost six wickets in this phase.

KKR’s is a severely depleted bowling outfit, marred by injuries to several of their key quicks. Even Varun Chakravarthy (hand injury) and Sunil Narine (illness) missed KKR’s previous washed-out game against Punjab Kings (PBKS). As a result, KKR are heavily reliant on their batters to win them games and how they go about against LSG’s stellar bowling line-up could decide Thursday’s clash.

While it’s still early days, LSG’s bowling overhaul has been one of the stories this season. Central to their success is fast bowler Prince Yadav, who picked up three wickets in six games in his debut season last year. This season, he has already bettered his wicket-count (four) just two games in, with his economy rate only 7.71. He has been nippy, often bowling the hard lengths and he’s also nailed the yorkers when required. Alongside Mohammed Shami, Prince has been one of the key reasons behind LSG’s powerplay richness.

LSG started their season with a loss against Delhi Capitals but defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets, with the bowlers coming good in both games.

KKR, on the other hand, are winless after three games and their only point came via Monday’s washout. Even in that match, KKR were reduced to 25 for 2 after 3.4 overs before rain arrived. The good news for them is that Narine, who missed the previous game due to abdominal pain, has recovered and likely to slot into the playing XI. Cameron Green, who has had the spotlight on him since he arrived, is also expected to begin bowling in KKR’s game against LSG.

Key Question

Team news – Narine likely to play, Varun doubtful

Narine was seen training on the eve of the LSG clash and is likely to slot back in, replacing Rovman Powell. Chakravarthy, who missed the previous game due to a finger injury on his left hand, however, remains doubtful. According to KKR, “the medical team has been working closely with him. He bowled his full set at training.”

Kolkata Knight Riders 1 Finn Allen, 2 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 3 Cameron Green, 4 Angkrish Raghuvanshi, 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Ramandeep Singh, 7 Sunil Narine, 8 Anukul Roy, 9 Navdeep Saini, 10 Vaibhav Arora, 11 Kartik Tyagi, 12 Blessing Muzarabani

LSG have rotated their third seamer, with Mohsin Khan playing the opening game and Avesh Khan the second. Having won the last game, LSG are unlikely to make any changes to their team. Spin-bowling coach Carl Crowe suggested there were no injuries in the LSG unit, which means Mayank Yadav might have to wait his turn. Rishabh Pant batted at No. 3 in the previous game and is likely to remain there after scoring a match-winning half-century.

Lucknow Super Giants 1 Mitchell Marsh, 2 Aiden Markram, 3 Rishabh Pant (wk, capt), 4 Nicholas Pooran, 5 Ayush Badoni, 6 Abdul Samad, 7 Mukul Choudhary, 8 M Siddharth, 9 Avesh Khan, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Digvesh Rathi, 12 Prince Yadav

In the spotlight – Mohammed Shami and Vaibhav Arora

Vaibhav Arora burst onto the scene in IPL 2024 with a solid season in KKR’s run to the title. He followed it up with an even better IPL 2025, where he finished as the joint-highest wicket-taker for KKR with 17 wickets. But he’s had a lukewarm IPL 2026 so far. With a number of key names missing, Arora is, in a way, the leader of the fast bowling pack but in the two games that he has bowled, he’s only picked up three wickets, while going at 12.37 runs an over. KKR will need Arora to find his rhythm and form.

Mohammed Shami began his season with the wicket of KL Rahul first ball and was nigh unplayable against SRH as he wrecked their top-order. Shami has picked up three wickets in two games so far, boasting an economy rate of only 4.62. All his wickets have come in the powerplay, where he’s bowled at pace and made the ball talk. Back on his Bengal home ground, Shami will want to keep the KKR home crowd quiet.

Stats

• Mohammed Shami has an economy rate of 4.00 in the powerplay so far this season, the best for any bowler with minimum of three overs
• Ajinkya Rahane, however, has a solid record against Shami in the IPL. He’s scored 94 runs against the quick and never been dismissed, striking at 165
• Ayush Badoni has fallen to Sunil Narine four times in three IPL innings
• KKR have a powerplay run rate of 11.29 in IPL 2026; that goes down to 9.30 in the middle phase

Pitch and conditions

The match will be played on the same surface as the PBKS-KKR clash, pitch No. 6. The surfaces at Eden Gardens have been batting-friendly in recent times and that’s unlikely to change. There is, however, rain in the air. It was cloudy on the eve of the game and there is forecast for rain around sunset time on matchday. The meteorological department has an orange alert in place for Wednesday and Thursday, which suggests rain could once again make its presence felt. The teams’ practice sessions on Wednesday were also interrupted due to heavy winds and rain.

Next three fixtures

Apr 14: vs Chennai Super Kings, Chennai
Apr 17: vs Gujarat Titans, Ahmedabad
Apr 18: vs Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata

Apr 12: vs Gujarat Titans, Lucknow
Apr 15: vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Bengaluru
Apr 19: vs Punjab Kings, New Chandigarh

ESPNCrinfo.com