Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders are all set to take on Kings XI Punjab in the backdrop of mankading controversy at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday.
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The eye will be on KXIP skipper Ravichandran Ashwin in the wake of 'mankading' Jos Buttler of Rajasthan Royals that helped them to win the match by 14 runs.
When the overseas cricketers slammed Ashwin for mankading Buttler custodian of cricket's laws MCC released a statement by stating that latter's way of dismissing RR batsman was within the law of cricket. At the same time, MCC slammed Buttler for leaving the crease before Ashwin released the ball.
Ahead of Kolkata match, It would definitely be a confidence booster for Ashwin.
Apart from the controversy KXIP, as a team, was clinical against RR. However, it remains to be seen how Ashwin and Co. start afresh in their second consecutive away match of IPL 2019.
With Chris Gayle has been in the sensational form he would look to continue his assault on the spin-filled KKR attack.
Meanwhile, hosts KKR have also been in good form. In their tournament opener, Nitish Rana and Andre Russell played a vital role in lifting KKR to victory against SRH at the Eden Gardens.
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Sunil Narine recovered from finger injury is good news for KKR. Their win against KXIP saw their star spinner and explosive opener, Sunil Narine, injured his finger.
Following this home match, KKR will set for their four-match away sojourn and would look to travel with a win in their bag.
KKR's next match at Eden Gardens will take place on April 12.
Squads
KKR: Dinesh Karthik (c), Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Nikhil Naik, Joe Denly, Shrikant Mundhe, Nitish Rana, Sandeep Warrier, Prasidh Krishna, Lockie Ferguson, Harry Gurney, KC Cariappa and Yarra Prithviraj
KXIP: R Ashwin (C), Sam Curran, Varun Chakaravarthy, Mohammed Shami, Nicholas Pooran, Moises Henriques, Hardus Viljoen, Darshan Nalkande, Sarfaraz Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Agnivesh Ayachi, Harpreet Brar, Murugan Ashwin, Chris Gayle, Andrew Tye, K L Rahul, Ankit Rajpoot, Mandeep Singh, Simran Singh, Mayank Agrawal, Karun Nair, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and David Miller.
