Big image: Will we witness Rinku magic once more?

There is not lots to speak about when speaking about this sport, is there? Just kidding. Where my Rinku followers at?

And in any case, each groups will need to deal with making the sport as boring as attainable. That appears like a blasphemous technique to construct as much as an IPL match, particularly one which pits a aspect that saved defying the chances all the best way to the title final 12 months and one which has produced this 12 months's most outrageous consequence.

But this is the factor. Both Gujarat Titans (7 video games) and Kolkata Knight Riders (8) have had sufficient of a go at this to determine what their strengths and weaknesses are and play to them. In different phrases, their expertise will assist them handle troublesome conditions higher, as an alternative of letting them go thus far that they find yourself needing a miracle.

Form information

Gujarat Titans: WWLWL (Last 5 matches, most up-to-date first)Kolkata Knight Riders: WLLLL

Team news

KKR's Litton Das left the IPL on Friday to take care of a medical emergency in his household in Bangladesh.

Shubman Gill batting deep into the innings may allow Titans to mitigate the KKR thriller spin risk•BCCI

Toss and Impact Player technique

Kolkata has not been sort to quick bowlers, so Titans, who've barely had to make use of Rahul Tewatia's legspin, would possibly determine to offer him a correct run right here. They're additionally more likely to swap Shubman Gill for Josh Little or Alzarri Joseph after they have to herald their Impact Player.

Gujarat Titans attainable XII: 1 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Hardik Pandya (capt), 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 David Miller, 6 Abhinav Manohar, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Noor Ahmad, 11 Mohit Sharma, 12 Josh Little/ Alzarri Joseph

KKR might be happy to see Jason Roy discovering kind. With Venkatesh Iyer and Suyash Sharma settling into life as Impact Subs, they are not brief on choices. They'll need their quicks to buck up, although. With simply 13 wickets at a median of 55.5 and an economic system price of 11.5, they're the worst-performing seam unit within the competitors.

Kolkata Knight Riders attainable XII: 1 N Jagadeesan (wk), 2 Jason Roy, 3 Venkatesh Iyer, 4 Nitish Rana (capt), 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Andre Russell, 7 David Wiese, 8 Vaibhav Arora, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Varun Chakravarthy, 12 Suyash Sharma

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Stats that matter

• Andre Russell is averaging 18 - his second-lowest in an IPL season - with 5 single-digit scores in eight innings. Not the very best time to come back up in opposition to Rashid Khan, who has dismissed him 5 occasions in 39 balls for 54 runs in T20 cricket.
• 3.6 vs 13.8. Those are Rinku Singh's balls-per-boundary numbers in opposition to tempo and spin this season. So for those who're the Titans captain, do the proper factor. Don't give him tempo.
• Shubman Gill has a median of 59.2 and a strike price of 143 in opposition to spin since IPL 2022. His batting deep into the innings would possibly allow Titans to mitigate KKR's thriller spin risk.
• Though proper now one among them just isn't feeling so nice. Sunil Narine has an economic system price of 8.9 in IPL 2023. Never within the historical past of this match has he been so costly. Also, he hasn't picked up a wicket for 5 matches straight. That's one other first for him within the IPL.
• Hardik Pandya has a strike price of 102 in opposition to tempo this season. This is the second-lowest amongst all batters who've confronted a minimum of 50 balls.

Pitch and circumstances

Eden Gardens, after internet hosting three matches on this 12 months's IPL, has produced a median first-innings rating of 222. It is the very best out of all of the grounds on present within the match. So anticipate just a few runs. Spin has supplied a little bit of respite, although - 21 wickets at an economic system price of 8.7 (versus 10.9 for tempo) and a strike price of 15.6, which is one other season-topping metric among the many grounds this IPL.

Alagappan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo