IPL 2021 Eliminator: Kolkata Knight Riders Best Playing 11 against Royal Challengers Bangalore

They
have
not
won
anything
in
the
last
6
editions
since
that
second
title
in
2014,
and
even
the
play-off
appearances
have
been
sparce.

But
the
IPL
2021
offers
them
a
fine
chance
to
return
to
the
glory
ways,
and
as
a
first
step
they
need
to
win
the
IPL
2021
Eliminator
against
Royal
Challengers
Bangalore
on
Monday
(October
11).

The
win
will
put
the
Eoin
Morgan-led
side
in
the
Qualifier
2,
a
step
closer
to
the
final.
But
can
they
go
past
the
RCB?

Here’s
the
Best
Possible
11
of
Kolkata
Knight
Riders
for
the
IPL
2021
Eliminator
against
the
Royal
Challengers
Bangalore.

1.
Openers

Shubman
Gill,
Venkatesh
Iyer:
Iyer
has
been
a
revelation
in
the
IPL
2021
second
phase.
He
played
fearless
cricket
against
some
more
experienced
and
known
names
and
now,
Gill
also
seemed
to
have
a
regained
his
touch
after
a
slow
start
to
the
tournament.
Their
opening
stand
against
Rajasthan
Royals
played
a
big
part
in
KKR
putting
on
board
a
total
as
big
as
171.
They
need
to
produce
a
similar
effort
against
the
Bangloreans.

2.
Middle-order
batsmen

Rahul
Tripathi,
Nitish
Rana,
Eoin
Morgan.
The
middle-order
of
the
Knight
Riders
has
not
really
evoked
confidence
save
for
a
few
power
knocks
by
Tripathi
and
Rana.
Morgan
has
been
woefully
out
of
touch
and
his
captaincy
has
been
spot
on
saving
him
the
axe.
But
against
a
side
like
RCB,
the
KKR
middle-order
needs
to
capitalise
if
Gill
and
Iyer
give
them
a
good
start
or
on
the
flip
side
they
need
to
consolidate
and
guide
the
team
to
a
safe
total
if
the
openers
fail
to
make
a
mark.
A
big
task
for
sure.

3.
Wicketkeeper-batsman

Dinesh
Karthik:
Karthik
has
been
a
lively
presence
as
ever
behind
and
in
front
of
the
stumps.
He
has
chipped
in
with
a
couple
of
cameos
and
kept
things
tight
as
wicketkeeper
too.
His
presence
at
No
6
is
a
big
boost
for
KKR.

4.
All-rounders

Shakib
Al
Hasan,
Sunil
Narine:
Both
Shakib
and
Narine
have
been
part
of
KKR
set
up
for
some
time
now.
Shakib
showed
his
value
to
the
side
when
he
dismissed
the
in-form
Yashasvi
Jaiswal
in
the
very
first
over
in
a
crucial
match
against
the
Rajasthan
outfit.
Narine
has
reinvented
himself
as
a
bowler
remodelling
his
bowling
action.
Though
he
does
not
take
wickets
at
a
cluster
as
he
once
used
to,
Narine
still
blocks
the
run
flow
and
play
a
handy
knock
the
down
the
order.

5.
Bowlers

Lockie
Ferguson.
Shivam
Mavi.
Varun
Chakravarthy.
Ferguson
and
Chakravarthy
has
been
shouldering
the
KKR
bowling
unit
from
early
stages
of
IPL
2021.
Now,
Mavi
has
joined
them
and
has
made
it
even
more
effective,
and
his
four-wicket
burst
against
RR
is
a
good
example
of
that.
It
helped
KKR
to
enter
the
Play-offs
as
the
fourth
placed
team.
The
trio
will
need
be
on
the
money
against
RCB.