Looking at the depth in the batting it will be a blockbuster contest between the two teams and both KKR and SRH will have equal chances at Eden Gardens.
After the first match, the 2019 IPL journey moves forward to the Eden Gardens where hosts Kolkata Knight Riders will face Sunrisers Hyderabad. Looking at the balance both the teams have it will surely be a cracker of a contest.
On one side there is KKR who have probably the best T20 players in the league with the likes of Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, Dinesh Karthik and the newest recruit Carlos Brathwaite. They also have India's no 1 spinner Kuldeep Yadav in their den who can trouble the opposition at the slow track of Eden.
While on the other side is Sunrisers Hyderabad who have performed consistently well in previous editions of the tournament. With David Warner return the SRH will surely become more fierce this year. The only negative point for them is whether their skipper Kane Williamson who is currently injured return to his fitness level in their first match of the tournament. In his absence, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is expected to lead the team.
KKR have many quality batsmen so here comes the difficulty for them in choosing the perfect batting order for the match. It will be interesting to see where young Shubhman Gill will play in the batting set-up.
What to expect:
Looking at the depth in the batting it will be a blockbuster contest between the two teams and both KKR and SRH will have equal chances at Eden Gardens.
Predicted Playing XIs of Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad
Probable Playing XI of KKR
Sunil Narine, Chriss Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Shubhman Gill, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (WK and C), Andre Russel, Carlos Brathwaite, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasiddh Krishna
Probable Playing XI of SRH
Johny Bairstow, David Warner, Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Yusuf Pathan, Deepak Hooda, Shakib Al Hasan/Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddharth Kaul, Shahbaz Nadeem
