Team KKR during KKR vs RR match
Kolkata Knight Riders are struggling to break their losing streak this IPL. After their five successive defeats, the squad currently ranks eighth on the points table by winning just three out of nine matches.
The Shreyas Iyer-led team has registered a record of making the most changes in their line-up. They are still in search of a combination that will compensate for all their losses.
20 players from the total team of 25 have been selected to play at least once for KKR in ten games, so far. The only five players yet to make it to the field are Ashok Sharma, Mohammad Nabi, Pratham Singh, Ramesh Kumar, and Abhijeet Tomar.
Even though Kolkata has been criticized for changing their playing XI back-to-back, the skipper has defended this decision before their match against Rajasthan Royals on Monday.
"We are trying to give as many matches as possible to the players, but it's also important to get the right combinations," Iyer said.
The dismal of Venkatesh Iyer has a lot to do with the changes in KKR's top order. After his struggles at the top, he was sent to the middle order but that too did not work. He has an average of just 16.5 runs in nine matches this season. Eventually, he was dropped in the tenth match.
The underwhelming form of Varun Chakravarthy whose mystery has not been able to script a turnaround for the team is another reason for the shuffling team. The removal of the retained spinner also didn't yield a fruitful result for the team.
Pat Cummins played only four games for Kolkata this season and had a poor economy of 12.00 with four wickets.
Even though Iyer has a decent average of 36.25 runs in nine matches, he is not able to play extra-ordinary innings and provide momentum to the troop.
Earlier, KKR had won the toss and opted to bowl first.
Rajasthan Royals playing XI: Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson, Karun Nair, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Sen
Kolkata Knight Riders Playing XI: Aaron Finch, Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer, Baba Indrajith, Nitish Rana, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Shivam Mavi
