Kolkata : KKR face off against LSG for the 14th match of the IPL 2026 season on 9th April at 7:30 PM at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, with boosted updates about Cameron Green and concerns about the weather. After the last match was abandoned due to rain, these factors could again play a significant role in today’s match.
The last match, held on Monday in Kolkata, between KKR and PBKS, was abandoned due to rain and thunderstorms. Both teams received one point each, with KKR achieving their first point of the season after back-to-back losses. In that match, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy were unavailable due to illness and injury, with Navdeep Saini and Rovman Powell replacing them. Sunil Narine is expected to return for today’s match after recovering from illness, while Varun’s return remains doubtful. KKR has suffered from several injuries to their main players before the tournament started. They tried to recover from this situation but did not achieve much success. The spin duo is heavily relied upon, but both have also faced periods out of form. In this context, KKR needs strong batting performances, but they have struggled. Finn Allen and Ajinkya Rahane did not click in the previous match as openers, losing early wickets, and the middle order also collapsed early, putting pressure on the finishers. Only Angkrish Raghuvanshi performed well with the bat, scoring back-to-back fifties in two matches. The team might shuffle the batting order for better results. Finn Allen and Cameron Green got out early in the previous match, which lasted only 3.4 overs due to rain, losing 2 wickets. Green, the most expensive player of the IPL 2026 auction, was bought by KKR for ₹25.20 crore but has not performed as expected. He has scored only a few runs: 18 runs in 10 balls in the first match, 2 runs in 2 balls in the second match, and 4 runs in 2 balls in the previous match. However, there is a major positive update regarding Green. He suffered from an injury, which is why he could not bowl in the past matches. Now, he has received fitness clearance from Cricket Australia (CA) to resume bowling duties in IPL 2026. This comes just in time for Kolkata’s high-stakes encounter against Lucknow Super Giants.
On the other side, LSG started their campaign with one loss and one win against DC and SRH. LSG’s bowling has been impressive; in their last match, Mohammed Shami performed exceptionally well, taking 2 crucial wickets of Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head in 4 overs, conceding just 9 runs at an economy of 2.25. However, their batting has struggled, with top-order collapses. Players like Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, and Ayush Badoni were unable to score heavily. In contrast, Rishabh Pant played a match-winning innings of 68 in 50 balls. LSG needs to address this issue quickly.
In the pre-match conference on 9th April, LSG’s spin coach Carl Crowe addressed Shami’s performance:
“It was just four days ago that I saw Shami working on that new ball variation that got Abhishek out with our bowling coach Bharat Arun. He’s still very willing to develop new skills to push his game,” Crowe said. Regarding the upcoming KKR vs LSG match, he added: “When Shami is on a run, he’s very difficult to play. So, if the ball is swinging, are there many better guys than him in India? Probably not. You’ll want to use him to his strengths.”
In IPL history, KKR and LSG have played 6 matches, with KKR winning 2 and LSG winning 4.
KKR Squad: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Finn Allen, Tejasvi Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert, Rovman Powell, Anukul Roy, Cameron Green, Sarthak Ranjan, Daksh Kamra, Rachin Ravindra, Ramandeep Singh, Sunil Narine, Blessing Muzarabani, Vaibhav Arora, Matheesha Pathirana, Kartik Tyagi, Prashant Solanki, Saurabh Dubey, Navdeep Saini, Umran Malik, Varun Chakravarthy.
Predicted KKR XI: Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Navdeep Saini, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi.
LSG Squad: Rishabh Pant, Aiden Markram, Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Mukul Choudhary, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Josh Inglis, Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Marsh, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Arshin Kulkarni, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ayush Badoni, Mohammed Shami, Avesh Khan, M. Siddharth, Digvesh Singh, Akash Singh, Prince Yadav, Arjun Tendulkar, Anrich Nortje, Naman Tiwari, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan.
Predicted LSG XI: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant (wk, capt), Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, M. Siddharth, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Shami, Digvesh Rathi.
Kolkata experienced heavy rain and thunderstorms during the day, raising concerns about possible disruptions. However, conditions are expected to improve significantly by the evening when the match begins at 7:30 PM. The temperature should be around 25–26°C with mostly clear skies and only a very small chance of rain. The match is likely to proceed without major interruptions, though there could be a slight delay if the ground remains damp from earlier showers. The pitch is expected to be batting-friendly overall, offering a flat surface with good bounce. Stroke play becomes easier as the match progresses. However, due to earlier rain, there may be some moisture initially, which could help fast bowlers with swing and seam movement in the first few overs. As the game goes on, the pitch is likely to settle and turn into a high-scoring track, with scores around 180–200+ possible. Dew in the second innings may further favor chasing teams, making the toss crucial, with captains likely preferring to bowl first. It will be interesting to see if KKR can bounce back in the league and how LSG can carry their momentum forward.
