Big Picture – Hosts RCB favourites?
The sprint to the playoffs is nearing the final lap, the chequered flag is visible, and the scenario makes for interesting viewing.Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have been the pace-setters right through the league phase, but still have some work to do before breathing easy. With three games left, they’re hunting for two more wins to feel comfortable. Even then, they could still miss out mathematically.Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), champions from 2024, were slow off the blocks this season. But they’ve found a second wind in the back half of the league stage, and with four wins on the trot, have form on their side to make a back-door entry into the playoffs. With four games remaining and eight points still up for grabs, fate is still in their own hands, aided by the one washout point they had earned against Punjab Kings.One glance at the points table and it’s easy to declare hosts RCB favourites in Raipur, but Virat Kohli has not got off the mark in back-to-back innings. Romario Shepherd has not replicated his 2025 form either and Phil Salt still remains unavailable. After two defeats in a row, they needed some heroic batting from Krunal Pandya to get over the line against Mumbai Indians.On the other hand, KKR come into the game with two emphatic wins – by eight and seven wickets respectively away from home. Sunil Narine has gone at only 6.51 an over, Finn Allen has finally begun to fire, Rinku Singh looks in fine touch, Cameron Green is stepping up, and their batting line-up has averaged just 4.5 dismissals per innings since their winning run began.Their only worry right now is the fitness of Varun Chakravarthy, who has taken 10 wickets in his last five games, but hurt his foot in Delhi and was spotted at the team hotel walking with a stick.
This is the first meeting between the teams in IPL 2026. And even though neither side will secure qualification nor face elimination after the match, this game feels like one of those where two points are worth a little bit more.
Form guide:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru WLLWW (last five completed results, most recent first)
Kolkata Knight Riders WWWWL
Key question
Team news
Salt has not played for RCB since April 18, flying home after a finger injury he suffered against Delhi Capitals. He is yet to link up with the squad.
Changes seem unlikely for a team fresh off a win, but some bowling reinforcements could be handy against in-form KKR batting line-up. Could Jacob Duffy be the answer, in place of Shepherd? Suyash Sharma, too, has taken only three wickets in his last seven games. If RCB are comfortable playing just one spinner, then Venkatesh Iyer could be a bold choice against his former team, in place of Suyash.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, 3 Devdutt Padikkal, 4 Rajat Patidar (capt), 5 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 6 Krunal Pandya, 7 Tim David, 8 Romario Shepherd/Jacob Duffy, 9 Rasikh Salam, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Josh Hazlewood, 12 Suyash Sharma
Shane Watson said Varun was “sore” and was being monitored. He was not spotted at training. If Varun is unfit, KKR have two options for a like-for-like swap: legspinner Prashant Solanki, who last played an IPL game in 2022, and spin-bowling allrounder Daksh Kamra, who is yet to play T20 cricket but his bowling is visually very similar to Varun’s.
Manish Pandey has not yet had a chance to bat in the two games since his IPL return. He should keep his place. Matheesha Pathirana is fit, Watson said, and keeps “pushing for a case.”
Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Finn Allen, 2 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 3 Angkrish Raghuvanshi, 4 Cameron Green, 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Manish Pandey, 7 Rovman Powell, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Anukul Roy, 10 Kartik Tyagi, 11 Vaibhav Arora 12 Prashant Solanki / Daksh Kamra
In the spotlight
Virat Kohli, not long ago, was wearing the Orange Cap, but two ducks in a row – the second time in his IPL career and first since 2022 – has seen him slip to No. 13 on the runs leaderboard. His dip has come with RCB’s top and middle order in a shaky state as well, with losses in two of the last three games. His last three dismissals were against the short ball to Rabada, a Test-match style delivery to Prince Yadav and a length ball mistimed to mid-off, off Deepak Chahar. Interestingly, Kohli scores faster with Bethell (strike-rate 169) than with Salt (strike-rate 140), carrying more of the attacking intent with his new opening partner.
Virat Kohli bagged two ducks in a row•BCCI
Sunil Narine has produced some magical four-over spells this season: 1 for 17 against DC, 1 for 23 against LSG (apart from the super over) and 1 for 21 against CSK. He’s not as prolific a wicket-taker as the other spin compatriots in the tournament, but his economy of 6.51 creates sustained pressure, which others have begun to capitalise on. His battle against Rajat Patidar is expected to be mouth-watering, and with potentially no Varun in the XII, KKR’s eyes will be on him.
Pitch and conditions
After some rain last week, Raipur is back to being its usual – hot at 37 degrees and humid at 31%. The RCB vs MI game, the first IPL game since 2016 at the venue, was a final-over thriller. It swung early on and spinners had it easier in the first innings. It’ll be the kind of surface where teams will have to make decisions intuitively, and both Patidar and Ajinkya Rahane will have to stay switched on.
Stats and trivia
In RCB’s losses, Josh Hazlewood has conceded 14.7 per over across nine overs in the powerplay. In RCB’s wins, Hazlewood has conceded only 5.8 in nine overs.
This is the fourth time Bhuvneshwar Kumar has taken 20-plus wickets in an IPL season. Only Yuzvendra Chahal has achieved it more times. Bhuvneshwar also has the second-highest powerplay wickets this season (12), second only to Kagiso Rabada.
Across the IPL, Kohli has a strike-rate of only 105.42 against Narine while being out four times across 17 innings. Rajat Patidar, though, has hit three sixes in the 14 balls he has faced against Narine for a strike-rate of 185.71 and no dismissals.
Finn Allen is one of only four batters (min. 7 innings) to have a 200+ strike-rate. He’s at 205.88. The others above him are Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (236.55), Priyansh Arya (226.49) and Abhishek Sharma (210.17).
Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @sreshthx