Kolkata Knight Riders will be looking to brush off their poor run of form and get back to winning ways when they take on Rajasthan Royals in Match 30 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season. After a decent start to the season, the slumped to consecutive defeats against Delhi Capitals and SunRisers Hyderabad and have slipped to 6th in the IPL 2022 points table. Their biggest concern will be their pace attack, with the young Rasikh Salam ruled out of the season with injury. Shivam Mavi has been expensive and was dropped for Salam, and they tried all-rounder Aman Hakim Khan against SRH, but he bowled just one over and was sent to bat at No.9. It will be interesting to see if they persist with him, or turn back to Mavi, who has more experience at this level.
Here's our KKR predicted XI for the match against RR:
Venkatesh Iyer: Venkatesh Iyer has not been able to replicate his form from last season, and KKR will need him to soon step up and give them quick starts at the top of the order. His bowling, or lack thereof, is also a concern.
Aaron Finch: The Australian limited-overs captain is likely to be given another game, after he came in for Ajinkya Rahane, despite a failure in his debut match.
Shreyas Iyer: It's not been a bad season for Shreyas Iyer personally, but he has not been able to convert starts into big scores. He would like to add to his one half-century so far.
Nitish Rana: With a fifty in his last game, Rana will look to build momentum and be a match-winner in the KKR middle order.
Sheldon Jackson: Sheldon Jackson hasn't quite fired yet in the opportunities given to him this season, but KKR will stick to him to accommodate Aaron Finch at the top.
Andre Russell: The big-hitting all-rounder is a sure-shot selection, and has been contributing well with bat as well as ball this season.
Pat Cummins: Pat Cummins hit a blitzkrieg fifty in his first match of the season and has picked up some key wickets, but he will want to try and bring down his economy rate.
Sunil Narine: Sunil Narine has been brilliant with the ball and as a useful floater with the bat. Shreyas will continue to rely on him to stifle the opposition with his mystery spin.
Umesh Yadav: Umesh Yadav started the season with a bang, but has slightly faded in the last few games. Shreyas will want his new ball specialist to be fired all cylinders again sooner rather than later.
Shivam Mavi: With their reluctance to bowl Aman Khan in their last game, KKR may just put their faith in Mavi again and hope he can be cheaper with the ball.
Varun Chakravarthy: Varun Chakravarthy may find his spot in danger soon if he doesn't step up his game soon. Not only has he been expensive, he has also struggled to take wickets.