KKR vs RCB Dream11 prediction, IPL 2023: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore fantasy picks

KKR vs RCB Dream11 prediction, IPL 2023: Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore for match 9 of Indian Premier League 16 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday. KKR will be returning to the iconic venue for the first time in four years after COVID-19 disrupted the sporting world.

KKR will certainly like to get all the home support they could get as they lost their opening match against Punjab Kings, a direct rival to their play-off ambitions over the years. Royal Challengers Bangalore, on the other hand, defeated five-time champions Mumbai Indians with some comfort in Bengaluru as Virat Kohli ran the show.

As far as head-to-head is concerned, KKR and RCB are facing each other for the 31st time with Kolkata winning 16 of the 30 encounters in the past. RCB, however, won the last two games between the two rivals.

KKR vs RCB injury update

KKR are going to play the entire season without their skipper Shreyas Iyer, who has been ruled out completely as surgery is unavoidable on his back injury. For RCB, there are a couple of injury concerns as well with pacer Reece Topley out of the game with dislocated shoulder while batter Rajat Patidar is out for the season with a heel injury.

(Key Players) Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli: RCB captain Faf du Plessis was the man of the match in the last game against MI for his 43-ball 73 while Virat Kohli continued his good form as well with a knock of 82 not out. Du Plessis brought his form from SA20, where he scored a century as well.

Andre Russell and Varun Chakravarthy: Andre Russell showed form early in IPL 2023 as he scored a 19-ball 35 with skipper Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer also getting a decent amount of runs. Varun Chakravarthy, who bowled an economical 1/26, is expected to be crucial with his spin at the Eden Gardens, whose surface is known for its slow nature. That makes the role of Sunil Narine vital as well.

KKR vs RCB predicted playing XI

RCB predicted playing 11 vs KKR Faf du Plessis (C), Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Virat Kohli, Michael Bracewell, David Willey, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, Karn Sharma

KKR predicted playing 11 vs RCB Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Tim Southee, Varun Chakravarthy, Umesh Yadav

KKR vs RCB pitch report

Eden Gardens' pitch is known to be helpful for both batters and bowlers. The batters find the condition more conducive with the pitch being fresh but as the match progresses it tends to help the spinners more. The evening breeze from the river nearby often provides help for the bowlers to exploit.

KKR vs RCB Dream11 prediction

KKR vs RCB Dream11 Prediction 1

Wicketkeeper: D Karthik, R Gurbaz
Batter: V Kohli, F du Plessis, N Rana, V Iyer
All-rounder: A Russell, S Ahmed
Bowler: M Siraj, U Yadav, V Chakravarthy

KKR vs RCB Dream11 Prediction 2

Wicketkeeper: D Karthik, R Gurbaz
Batter: V Kohli, F du Plessis, N Rana, V Iyer
All-rounder: A Russell, S Ahmed, G Maxwell
Bowler: M Siraj, V Chakravarthy

Captain: V Kohli
Vice-captain: F du Plessis