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The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) are all set to lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL 2026 match on Wednesday at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Raipur.
Ahead of the match, former Team India cricketer Mohammad Kaif feels that it would benefit the Royal Challengers if KKR`s mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy doesn`t line up for today`s match.
“If Varun Chakaravarthy is not available, then it is a big plus for RCB. He has come back into form recently. He was doing well and hitting the right areas. Virat Kohli is someone who loves to play against faster spin bowlers. KKR will be hoping that Varun is 100 per cent fit because their template over the years has been to play with two fast bowlers, one all-rounder, and three spinners,” he said on JioHotstar.
The former cricketer also feels that, considering the current form of Anukul Roy, the Knight Riders can use the services of Sunil Narine in the middle overs.
“Anukul Roy is doing a wonderful job for them in the Powerplay. That gives them the cushion of using Sunil Narine a little later so that he can control the middle over phase,” said Kaif.
Currently, the Rajat Patidar-led men are placed in the second position on the points table. They have a net run rate (NRR) of +1.103 and 14 points. On the other hand, the Knight Riders are in the eighth position with a net run rate (NRR) of -0.169 and nine points.
IPL 2026, Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Kolkata Knight Riders: Full Squads
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Josh Hazlewood, Swapnil Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Krunal Pandya, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Venkatesh Iyer, Phil Salt (WK), Rajat Patidar (C), Nuwan Thushara, Romario Shepherd, Tim David, Devdutt Padikkal, Yash Dayal, Rasikh Salam, Jordan Cox, Jacob Bethell, Vicky Ostwal, Mangesh Yadav, Suyash Sharma, Vihaan Malhotra, Abhinandan Singh, Kanishk Chouhan, Satvik Deswal.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Manish Pandey, Sunil Narine, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert (WK), Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Sarthak Ranjan, Finn Allen (WK), Rachin Ravindra, Cameron Green, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kartik Tyagi, Blessing Muzarabani, Akash Deep, Prashant Solanki, Matheesha Pathirana, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Harshit Rana, Tejasvi Singh (WK), Daksh Kamra.
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