KKR search for answers amid turmoil; in-form Gujarat Titans eye first home win

An under pressure Kolkata Knight Riders would be hoping to arrest their steep slide against a resurgent Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League here on Friday.

Under captain Ajinkya Rahane and coach Abhishek Nayar, KKR have struggled for clarity, slumping to four defeats in five matches and still searching for their first win of the season.

It's their misfortune that their bowling had weakened significantly before the tournament following the injury setbacks to Harshit Rana and Akash Deep and the release of Mustafizur Rahman on BCCI instructions.

But the bigger concern was the dip in form of their spin mainstays Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. The Indian spinner is still in the struggle phase and is yet to take a wicket this season.

KKR's problems have also been compounded by questionable decisions on and off the field decisions.

Leaving out players like Tim Seifert and Rachin Ravindra have raised eyebrows, while their choices after winning the toss have been baffling.

In the rain-hit washout against Punjab Kings, Rahane surprised everyone by choosing to bat, while against Chennai Super Kings he opted to bowl first on a surface that clearly favoured the bowlers.

Their first match defeat to Mumbai Indians after failing to defend 220 set the tone, and the heavy 65-run loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad at home only deepened the slide.

Since then, KKR have looked a side short on direction.

Much of the spotlight was on Cameron Green, bought for a record Rs 25.20 crore to fill the void left by Andre Russell.

The Australian all-rounder has struggled to justify that price tag, managing just 56 runs in five innings and making limited impact with the ball after being cleared to bowl.

The batting order, too, has looked confusing.

Sunil Narine was pushed up to open in their chase of 193, while Rahane, who has his best strike-rate in the power play, dropped to No 3, and neither move worked as KKR managed only 160/7 against CSK.

And then there is the unused domestic firepower of Manish Pandey, Rahul Tripathi and Sarthak Ranjan, who all are still warming the bench.

KKR now need something magical to turn it around and they must first address their tactical lapses.

They may also turn to the 2015 comeback story of Mumbai Indians who won the title after they losing five of their first six matches.

Gujarat Titans too are yet to win at home, having lost their only game here to Rajasthan Royals but since then they have bounced back with two morale-boosing away wins.

Their bowling has looked settled, with Prasidh Krishna delivering in the middle and death overs, and Rashid Khan rediscovering rhythm.

With Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler finding form, Gujarat Titans head into the contest with far greater balance and confidence.

Squads:

Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), Anuj Rawat, Jos Buttler, Kumar Kushagra, Glenn Phillips, Rashid Khan, Manav Suthar, Nishant Sindhu, Rahul Tewatia, Washington Sundar, Gurnoor Brar, Arshad Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kagiso Rabada, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Sharma, Jason Holder, Tom Banton, Luke Wood, Sai Sudharsan, M Shahrukh Khan, Jayant Yadav, Kulwant Khejroliya.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, Varun Chakaravarthy, Cameron Green, Matheesha Pathirana, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert, Tejasvi Dahiya, Rachin Ravindra, Akash Deep, Blessing Muzarabani, Navdeep Saini, Prashant Solanki, Finn Allen,   Daksh Kamra, Kartik Tyagi, Sarthak Ranjan, Saurabh Dubey

Match starts: 7.30pm.