IPL 2023: KKR and RCB resume rivalry at the Eden Gardens

With some thrilling matches over the years, KKR vs RCB is often referred to as the most fierce battle of the IPL, and the two sides will resume rivalry in IPL 2023 on Thursday.

It's a contrasting image this year for the 2 sides though. While KKR looked shabby in their opening match vs the Punjab Kings, RCB humiliated the Mumbai Indians.

Virat Kohli is back to his best and with an in-form Faf du Plessis at the top, the Royal Challengers clearly have an upper hand on paper.

One thing in Kolkata's favour is the fact that it will be the first match at the Eden Gardens and KKR will return to their fortress after 3 years.

TEAM NEWS

A Shreys Iyer-less KKR is hit by injuries. With Shakib Al Hasan has pulled out of the IPL, Lockie Ferguson is injured, Liton Das and Shakib's replacement Jason Roy are yet to join the squad, KKR is left with just 5 foreign players at the moment.

RCB will also miss Reece Topley as the pacer injured his shoulder in the first game. However, it shouldn't concern Bangalore much as they might bring in David Willey.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

While KKR hold an edge in the overall head-to-head battle, RCB beat Kolkata in the only game in IPL 2022.

WEATHER

The met department hasn't predicted any rain in Kolkata on Thursday, with temperature ranging between 25-29 degree celsius. However, it will be interesting to see if Eden Gardens get due.

KKR vs RCB PROBABLE PLAYING XIs

KKR PLAYING XI

Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Mandeep Singh, Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Anukul Roy, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy.

Impact Player: Venkatesh Iyer

RCB PLAYING XI

Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Michael Bracewell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Karn Sharma, Harshal Patel, Akash Deep, David Willey and Mohammed Siraj