IPL 2025: KKR aim to keep playoff hopes alive against already-ousted Royals

Faced with a must-win situation, defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will have their task cut out when they take on an already-ousted Rajasthan Royals in an afternoon match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Eden Gardens on Sunday.

With nine points from 11 outings, KKR needs a perfect run in their remaining four games to ensure playoffs qualification. Two of these games are at Eden Gardens, where they’ve managed just a solitary win in four completed matches this season, and thus they will be looking to get over the line in their penultimate home match.

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Having said that, going by their performances this season, the Royals are an unpredictable side, and with nothing to lose, they could be dangerous on their day. For KKR, a loss wouldn’t eliminate them outright but it could cause substantial damage to their playoff hopes.

Heading into Sunday’s match, the Knights can take the positives, particularly the handy contributions from multiple batters, from their victory against Delhi Capitals in their previous outing. They would also be desperately hoping their top run-getter and skipper Ajinkya Rahane to recover quickly from a hand injury, while expecting the likes of Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rinku Singh and Andre Russell to continue from where they left against DC.

Venkatesh Iyer, who has blown hot and cold this season, also needs to put his hand up with some handy contribution. In seven innings this season, a struggling top order has offered him ample opportunity but he has been out in single digits four times, and has crossed 40 only once.

KKR’s bowling looks a balanced unit with pacers Vaibhav Arora and Harshit Rana and spinners Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy handling their responsibilities well.

On the other hand, the Royals will hope to end the season on a high and more importantly avoid the ignominy of being the wooden spooners. Back from a morale-crushing loss against Mumbai Indians, the Royals have been plagued by injuries to key players — skipper Sanju Samson and pacer Sandeep Sharma, who has been ruled out of the tournament.

All eyes will be on how young Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who followed up his century with a duck, backs himself in the company of an experienced Yashasvi Jaiswal. Their middle order, comprising the likes of Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Rana, Shimron Hetmyer looks a formidable unit.

As suggested by their bowling coach Shane Bond on the eve of the game, the absence of the duo could provide an opportunity to a few untested players in their last few fixtures, with the management having one eye on IPL 2026 and beyond.

“Regardless of whether you’re in the competition or not, you’ve got the RR badge on your chest, and you’ve got players with the attitude of wanting to turn up, compete, win, and that shouldn’t matter if you’re in the competition or not,” Bond said.

“So that energy and intensity is expected from the players regardless of the points table, and we didn’t do that very well the other night [against Mumbai Indians]. It will be a hot day in Kolkata, and it will be challenging, but that’s what’s expected, and I want to see that from the boys,” he added.

Akash Madhwal got his first opportunity with Sandeep’s injury in RR’s last game, and should keep his place. Left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya also remains a tempting option against KKR’s line-up while Wanindu Hasaranga could also be back.

Squads:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Rinku Singh, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Luvnity Sisodia, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Mooen Ali, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Anrich Nortje, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markhande, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, Chetan Sakariya.

Rajasthan Royals: Riyan Parag (stand-in captain), Sanju Samson, Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Kunal Rathore, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Rana, Yudhvir Singh, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Wanindu Hasaranga, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kwena Maphaka, Ashok Sharma, Sandeep Sharma.