Is that a crack that’s showing up? Or wait, is that some dirt lying there? Can that be concealed or swept under the carpet for now? These are questions that the Kolkata Knight Riders are grappling with already, so early into their IPL 2018 campaign. After Sunil Narine provided a fine ‘opening’ at home against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the team has veered off its track a little. A gut-wrenching loss against Chennai Super Kings followed by their latest defeat at home to Sunrisers Hyderabad has opened a can of worms. Delhi Daredevils, on the other hand, have flown into the city, relieved, having clinched a final-ball thriller the other night against Mumbai Indians. And with Gautam Gambhir as their leader, someone who knows the conditions at the Eden Gardens like the back of his hand, DD will look to make the most of his knowledge to build towards a winning streak.

Having already lost their pace bowling spearhead, Mitchell Starc, and a promising quick in Kamlesh Nagarkoti to injuries, and a senior fast bowler’s (Vinay Kumar) confidence to some ruthless batting in back to back games, KKR are left with little or no options to limit the damage in death overs. Rather importantly, their pace bowling resources are yet to make the most of their own home conditions. On all three occasions, they have fallen back on their spinners to bail them out, at times to stop the run-flow, on other instances to fetch them breakthroughs. With a week down in the tournament, all teams will have taken down notes of these frailties. On the batting front, KKR, all of a sudden, seem overtly dependent on the kind of starts Narine provides at the top, but with Karthik asserting that the left-hander won’t be seen opening in all games, it lends more confusion to that batting line-up. With a solid middle order in place, Shubman Gill’s identity in the line-up can so easily be under threat, and although it was just one game to go by, he didn’t seem comfortable with the idea of the No. 7 boom-crash-bang approach. So, it’s not just about managing workloads and injury threats for the franchise. There’s a fair bit to be done with positioning their players in that XI. Dinesh Karthik, who is finding his feet as a captain himself, is now handling a team that’s pretty much in the same shoes as his.

Having lost both their opening games, Daredevils managed to regain confidence through exactly the kind of win that lifts the morale and helps erase any doubts in the mind. Jason Roy’s 53-ball 91, while chasing 195, formed the nucleus of their strong showing. DD will also take great confidence from Rishabh Pant’s ability to create an upsurge in the momentum, from any spot in the line-up. There’s enough firepower in the middle order too – Shreyas Iyer and Glenn Maxwell – and it is a matter of time that it comes to the fore. There are a few reasons to worry for DD as far as their spin strength is concerned, with both Shahbaz Nadeem and Amit Mishra having gone for runs. Rahul Tewatia, though, has held his own in all three outings. The Eden wicket will be more about the pacers though and two men who have been familiar with these conditions, Trent Boult (ex-KKR) and Mohammed Shami (Bengal pacer), will seek to improve their numbers from the past games.

But, wait, all said and done, the focus will be wholly on their skipper Gambhir, at least on Monday (April 16) if not on other days. He returns to a city he once called second home. Having led the Knight Riders for seven years that saw them lift two IPL crowns, the fierce competitor will look to turn a new chapter in his DD career at a venue that has never shied away from showering love and luck on him. Knowing Kolkata, the emotional fans will have a tough time choosing where to place their loyalties.

What: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Daredevils

When: April 16, 2018, Eden Gardens, 8:00 PM IST

What to expect:A maximum of 39 degrees can be expected in Kolkata on Monday, of course with a small chance of a brief spell of thundershowers in the afternoon. If Saturday’s trend is anything to go by, it could make a belated appearance.

Team News:

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Only in their previous game, KKR made three changes to their line-up. There’s little possibility that they would go about chopping and changing again. However, they would do well to position their players better, like sending Gill higher up the order and using Mavi up front.

Probable XI: Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Mitchell Johnson, Shivam Mavi, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav

Delhi Daredevils:

Having picked up their first win in the previous game, DD too might not be too keen on making any changes. However, they might consider swapping left-arm spinner Nadeem with the other available options in their squad, i.e Mishra or Jayant Yadav.

Probable XI: Jason Roy, Gautam Gambhir (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Shreyas Iyer, Vijay Shankar, Daniel Christian, Rahul Tewatia, Amit Mishra/Jayant Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Trent Boult

Head to Head:

KKR 12 – 7 DD

KKR have won six out of their last seven IPL games against DD.

Trend at the Eden Gardens:

KKR 6 – 1 DD

DD’s only win against KKR here came in 2012 and since, they have lost all the four matches against the hosts.

Interesting face-offs:

Johnson vs Gambhir: Johnson has accounted for the southpaw thrice in 38 balls, conceding just 47 runs.

Maxwell vs Chawla: The Victorian has scored 51 runs at a fair clip of 170 against Chawla but has got out to him as well – thrice in 30 balls.

Did you know?

Piyush Chawla has taken 18 wickets in 17 matches against DD at 23.56, and concedes only at 7.66 per over with a wicket every 18.44 balls.

Sunil Narine has taken 14 wickets at 18.93, coupled with an economy of 6.16 and strike rate of 18.43 against the Daredevils.

Approaching milestones:

Dinesh Karthik needs seven more runs to become the 12th player to score 3000 IPL runs.

Sunil Narine is one shy from becoming the third overseas bowler after Lasith Malinga and Dwayne Bravo to bag 100 IPL wickets.

What they said:

“Gautam knows our team inside out. Obviously there’s a lot of changes in the personnel, due to the way the auction panned out. He will know the wicket and conditions really well. He knows about a lot of players who have been here for a long time. Conversely, so do we.” – Simon Katich, Kolkata Knight Riders’ assistant coach.