Last year’s IPL finalists KKR, SRH play for pride in inconsequential contest

Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad, the two finalists of IPL 2024, will meet again on Sunday but this time, with little more than pride at stake. Already knocked out of the race to the IPL 2025 playoffs, both sides will look to end the season on a high in the inconsequential clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Sunday.

Having said that, SRH head into the contest with momentum, having thrashed a playoff-bound Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by 42 runs on Friday. Their power-packed batting line-up, featuring Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Aniket Verma will relish the flat deck at the Kotla, aiming to sign off on a high.

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Defending champions KKR, on the other hand, haven’t taken the field since May 7, when they were beaten by Chennai Super Kings at the Eden Gardens. Their scheduled match against RCB on May 17 was washed out, effectively ending their faint playoff hopes.

For KKR, there was more than a single factor that contributed to their slide this season, from questionable home pitches prepared under the watch of local curator Sujan Mukherjee, to underwhelming performances from key players.

Fresh from a strong international season, Varun Chakravarthy failed to replicate his success. But the biggest disappointment has arguably been the underwhelming returns of Venkatesh Iyer. Bought back for a staggering ₹23.75 crore, Iyer managed to notch up just 142 runs in 11 games with 60 of those coming in a single knock. Take that away, and his tally drops to a paltry 82 runs across 10 matches. Without contributing with the ball either, questions are bound to be asked about the investment.

Skipper Ajinkya Rahane, ironically not seen as a T20 force, has been KKR’s top performer with the bat, amassing 375 runs. His 20 sixes are the most by a KKR batter this season, ahead of Sunil Narine (16) and Andre Russell (14).

Lack of consistency from the death over hitters — Russell and Rinku Singh also contributed to KKR’s woes this season. Sunday’s match may not carry the weight of last year’s final, but for both sides, it’s a last chance to end a disappointing season on a positive note.

Squads:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Manish Pandey, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Luvnith Sisodia, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Venkatesh Iyer, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Umran Malik, Anrich Nortje, Spencer Johnson.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Atharva Taide, Abhinav Manohar, Aniket Verma, Sachin Baby, Smaran Ravichandran, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Travis Head, Harshal Patel, Kamindu Mendis, Wiaan Mulder, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Shami, Rahul Chahar, Simarjeet Singh, Zeeshan Ansari, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga.