Eden Gardens in Kolkata has been under a blanket of white covers for four straight evenings, and with about a day to go, rain and gusts have continued to hit the stadium hard. The disruption has already touched three separate practice sessions and has even washed out one scheduled game. The downpour has also handed Kolkata Knight Riders their only point so far in the competition. Lucknow Super Giants, meanwhile, lost their advantage in a previous contest against Delhi Capitals due to the conditions, but still managed to register a win against Sunrisers Hyderabad—though it was far from a dominant performance. LSG will likely take confidence from how their fast bowlers handled the Powerplay, while KKR’s brief spell in action against PBKS would have offered a closer look at how their top order functions when the pressure rises.
Rishabh Pant did manage to score a fifty, but the more worrying theme for him is how slowly he gets going. Since the start of 2024, he has produced the lowest strike rate (111.96) among all batters when facing only the first ten balls of an IPL innings. Still, the middle and end of the innings came through for him, and the same can be said for one of their key Indian names, Mohammed Shami. KKR’s concerns are not limited to personnel—there are also tactical oddities. They went for a batting approach with rain in the air against PBKS, and the changes to their XI underline how unsettled things have been. Despite having what is statistically their most formidable spin unit across 2024 and 2025, they were forced to exclude both Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy because of illness and injury respectively. With no wins in three matches and a net run-rate sitting at -1.964, KKR know they must respond quickly.
When: KKR vs LSG on April 9, 2026, 7 PM IST
Where: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
What to expect: More rain is the main question mark—ideally, the game avoids further interruptions. The forecast for match time is largely clear. Xavier Bartlett has shown early bounce and pace on the surface, while SRH have made effective use of cutters during the middle overs. However, repeated showers could still leave the outfield sluggish, affecting how quickly the ball arrives at the boundary.
Head-to-Head: In six meetings, LSG lead 4-2 over KKR, including a 2-1 advantage at Eden Gardens.
Team watch
Kolkata Knight Riders
Narine missed the PBKS game because of abdominal pain, and he reportedly fell ill on the morning of that match. He did train on both days leading into the fixture, and should be ready for the next assignment. Chakaravarthy, meanwhile, has been working his way back from a left little-finger injury sustained while trying to complete a catch. That setback is not expected to disrupt his bowling, but whether he makes the XI will be decided at the toss. If Chakaravarthy does not play, KKR may turn to Navdeep Saini, though they could also spring a surprise selection such as Daksh Kamra.
Cameron Green has been bowling consistently in practice sessions and may finally get a chance to do the same in an actual match, after almost reaching Cricket Australia’s precautionary window. Matheesha Pathirana is still unavailable. The Rahane versus Shami matchup promises to be one of the more interesting battles. Across eight IPL innings, Ajinkya Rahane has a strike rate of 164.91, and he has not been dismissed by his former India team-mate yet. Shami, though, arrives with additional questions for batters this time as well, having taken Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head with a fresh variation just three days ago. If Shami can blunt Rahane’s rhythm, Rahane will also be looking to correct a trend against spin: since IPL 2023, he has struck at only 119.93 versus spin. Ahead of the PBKS match, Rahane was seen repeatedly practising the lap sweep off Abhishek Nayar’s throwdowns, possibly searching for ways to broaden his options.
Probable XII: Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane (C), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (WK), Cameron Green, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Kartik Tyagi, Varun Chakaravarthy/Navdeep Saini, Blessing Muzarabani, Vaibhav Arora
Lucknow Super Giants
LSG do not appear to have any confirmed injury availability concerns. Carl Crowe, the spin bowling coach and the team’s representative at the pre-match press conference, declined to give any comment when asked about potential issues. He did note that making room for Mayank Yadav has been difficult, pointing to the strength of the pace resources available to the team. That suggests the speed department could remain in its current shape against KKR, depending on how the surface behaves.
Based on how the pitch settles, LSG could also consider using Shahbaz Ahmed instead of M Siddharth as the Impact Player, with the logic that Ahmed is familiar with the conditions at Eden Gardens.
Tactics & matchups: Nicholas Pooran has not found his best form across his first two outings, but his past record against Narine should provide some comfort. Pooran’s numbers versus Narine include an average of 48.25 and a strike rate of 134.02. Against Chakaravarthy, he has struck at 165.21. Still, his broader post-IPL 2025 figures have dipped: he has been scoring at 130.11, with boundaries accounting for 15.64% of his output. That is down from 23.6% between January 2024 and IPL 2025. With another left-handed batter in the line-up—Pant—batting at number three, Pooran has been pushed down to five. Against a KKR bowling unit that appears weakened, Pooran will hope to rediscover his rhythm even from the lower-middle order.
Probable XII: Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant (C & WK), Ayush Badoni, Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, Shahbaz Ahmed/M Siddharth, Mohammed Shami, Avesh Khan, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Rathi
Did you know: Since IPL 2024, Pant has managed a strike rate of only 117.12 against spin, with boundaries contributing 14.35%. KKR currently hold the poorest spin-related numbers in IPL 2026, with an economy of 11.07, a strike rate of 48.5, and a boundary rate of 25.77%. KKR also have the weakest seam-bowling economy across teams (10.83), even though their seam strike rate (17.5) ranks third-best.
What they said
“We knew a while back that the team has two-three injuries. We were in the camps for a long time, and we had prepared according to the expected combination. When we came here, it became easier for us, because we knew who would bowl where. In the same roles, we played matches, tournaments and practiced as well, so it’s now easy for us. Injuries have been a setback, but we need to manage,” Kartik Tyagi said, reflecting on taking on extra responsibilities in the KKR camp.
“With Digvesh, I’m incredibly impressed by his skill-set, really excited to work with him and when I first talked about coming over to Super Giants and the opportunity to work with Digvesh was really exciting. I see a raw, young, highly skilled Indian bowler that’s got huge potential. His skills are very exciting and hopefully I can work with him for a long period of time and do whatever I can to help him achieve his potential. But in terms of what I think he’s capable of, I think he’s capable of playing for India in the future, absolutely, yes,” LSG spin-bowling coach Carl Crowe added about Digvesh Rathi.
