Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will face off against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 28th match of the IPL 2026 season on 19th April (Sunday) at 3:30 PM at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. While RR will aim to secure a win after suffering their first defeat of the season against SRH, KKR will still be searching for their first victory of the season. The positive news for KKR is the expected arrival of Matheesha Pathirana from Sri Lanka to join the squad. However, there is still uncertainty regarding whether he will be included in today’s playing XI.
RR started their campaign this season in outstanding fashion, displaying a well-balanced performance in both the batting and bowling departments. However, after suffering their first defeat against SRH, they will be looking to bounce back stronger and regain their winning momentum. RR are currently placed 3rd on the points table with 8 points.
On the other hand, KKR have played six matches without registering a single victory. Led by Ajinkya Rahane, KKR have struggled to secure even one win, which has significantly affected their rhythm and confidence. Before the season began, they were already troubled by injuries to their pace bowlers, and the situation has worsened with inconsistency in their batting lineup as well. The top order has failed to provide strong starts, putting pressure on the middle and lower order.
In the last match, Cameron Green played a solid innings, but other batters were unable to contribute significantly due to frequent wicket losses. Tim Seifert was used as an opener in place of Finn Allen in the previous game. Although the spin duo of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy managed to take wickets. As a result, KKR are currently at the bottom of the table with just 1 point. An added boost for KKR is that Matheesha Pathirana has officially joined the KKR squad. However, there is no official confirmation yet regarding his participation in today’s game against RR at Eden Gardens.
In IPL history, KKR and RR have faced each other 32 times, with KKR winning 16 matches, RR winning 14, and 2 matches ending without a result. At Eden Gardens, KKR have hosted RR 12 times, winning 7 matches, while RR have won 4.
Kolkata Knight Riders (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.
KKR Predicted XI:
Ajinkya Rahane (c), Sunil Narine, Tim Seifert (wk), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Cameron Green, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi.
Rajasthan Royals (RR) Squad:
Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Donovan Ferreira, Lhuan-Dre Pretorius, Ravi Singh, Aman Rao Perala, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Ravindra Jadeja, Dasun Shanaka, Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande, Kwena Maphaka, Ravi Bishnoi, Sushant Mishra, Yash Raj Punja, Vignesh Puthur, Brijesh Sharma, Adam Milne, Kuldeep Sen, Sandeep Sharma, Nandre Burger.
RR Predicted XI:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi.
The weather is expected to be warm and humid, with temperatures around 29–31°C and humidity levels near 60–65%. The sky will likely remain mostly clear with a light breeze, and there is almost no chance of rain, ensuring a full match without interruptions. Since it is a daytime game, dew will not play a significant role. The dry conditions are expected to favor batting, making it suitable for stroke play despite the humidity. The pitch at Eden Gardens is expected to start as a good batting surface with consistent bounce and pace, allowing batters to play freely in the initial overs. As the match progresses, the surface may slow down slightly and assist spinners in the middle overs. However, if dew does not intervene, batting in both innings should remain fairly balanced. A competitive total is expected to be in the range of 170–190 runs. It will be interesting to see whether RR continue their strong form and secure another win after the loss, or KKR finally register their first victory of the season on their home ground.
