Two-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders, who are currently suffering through the unavailability of skipper Shreyas Iyer and a few foreign players, are set for a comeback at home, where they will handle a clash against their IPL rival Royal Challengers Bangalore, here at Eden Gardens, on Thursday. Having started their campaign with a seven-run defeat via the Duckworth-Lewis method against Punjab Kings at Mohali, KKR suffered twin blows.
First, premier Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan pulled out of the tournament because of family reasons and international commitments, and the next day, regular skipper Shreyas Iyer, who is also their batting mainstay, was ruled out of the entire IPL as he will undergo a surgery to treat his back injury. KKR had made Nitish Rana their stand-in skipper, assuming that their regular skipper would be back in the second half of the season, but with Iyer ruled out completely, the Chandrakant Pandit-coached side may face a leadership crisis. The accidental skipper Rana, who has experience leading Delhi in white-ball cricket, has a big task ahead of him as the team desperately seeks some solace in its den. The buzz is that KKR’s owner, Shah Rukh Khan, will be in the house when they return here after 1,438 days. They last played at Eden Gardens on April 28, 2019—a 34-run win over the Mumbai Indians before COVID-19 hit the world.