Kolkata, April 18 (IANS) Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will host Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 28th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, at the Eden Gardens.

The Kolkata Knight Riders have had a rough start to their campaign, getting only one point from their first six games, thanks to a rainout against the Punjab Kings.

Ajinkya Rahane has led the team, but they haven’t been able to find their rhythm. Neither the batting nor the bowling units have been able to work together at any point in the tournament so far.

On the other hand, the Rajasthan Royals have become one of the more stable teams this season. The Royals, led by Riyan Parag, have been calm and consistent, winning important games to stay firmly in the race for the top of the points table. The match will take place at Eden Gardens, a place known for high-scoring games before spinners start to play. The way the teams are put together and how they carry out their plans could be very important.

In 32 IPL meetings, KKR hold a slight edge with 16 wins, while RR have claimed 14 victories, with two matches ending without a result. As KKR look to spark a turnaround in front of their home crowd, RR will be keen to maintain their momentum and tighten their grip on a strong campaign.

When: April 19, Sunday, 3:30 PM IST

Where: Eden Gardens

Where to watch: Where to watch: The KKR vs RR match will be broadcast on Star Sports channels, with JioHotstar live-streaming the game.

Squads:

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Manish Pandey, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rahul Tripathi, Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Ramandeep Singh, Rovman Powell, Cameron Green, Rachin Ravindra, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik.

Rajasthan Royals: Ravindra Jadeja, Dasun Shanaka, Donovan Ferreira, Sandeep Sharma, Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Lhuan-Dre Pretorius, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande, Kwena Maphaka, Nandre Burger, Ravi Bishnoi, Sushant Mishra, Yash Raj Punja, Vignesh Puthur, Ravi Singh, Aman Rao, Brijesh Sharma, Adam Milne, Kuldeep Sen.

–IANS

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