IPL 2026, KKR vs RR 28th Match Match Preview

Big picture: RR’s underbelly and Jadeja’s role

Having started the season with four successive wins, Rajasthan Royals (RR) were served a rude shock by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their latest outing. Perhaps for the first time in the IPL, the result was effectively sealed just after one over in the chase, as Praful Hinge reduced RR to 1 for 3 in their pursuit of 217.

The collapse exposed RR’s weak middle and lower-middle order, which looked even weaker in the absence of Shimron Hetmyer. Riyan Parag has been short of runs (49 in five games), Ravindra Jadeja has struck at 118.75, and Jofra Archer at No. 8 in the Impact Player era doesn’t infuse much confidence.

As an allrounder, Jadeja is supposed to provide the balance RR were lacking in the past few years. But he has bowled just seven overs in five games. In two games, he didn’t roll his arm at all. Since RR are anyway playing five frontline bowlers and with Parag available to chip in if needed, is there a case to bring in a proper batter in place of Jadeja? If RR go that route, Shubham Dubey and Ravi Singh are their options.

Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), RR’s opponents for the afternoon game at Eden Gardens, have much deeper and wider problems, and have just one point after six games. Only three teams have had a worse start to an IPL season: Mumbai Indians in 2022 (eight losses), Delhi Capitals in 2013 and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2019 (six losses each).

Another loss will push KKR to the brink of elimination. That Matheesha Pathirana is unlikely to be available for Sunday’s game doesn’t help either.

Form guide

Kolkata Knight Riders LLLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Rajasthan Royals LWWWW

Key question

Team news: Hetmyer likely to return

KKR could field an unchanged side.

Kolkata Knight Riders (probable): 1 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 2 Tim Seifert (wk), 3 Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), 4 Cameron Green, 5 Rovman Powell, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Anukul Roy, 8 Ramandeep Singh, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Kartik Tyagi, 11 Varun Chakravarthy, 12 Vaibhav Arora

In Parag’s words, Hetmyer was “rested” against Sunrisers Hyderabad. If he returns, Lhuan-dre Pretorius may have to sit out.

Rajasthan Royals (probable): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 3 Dhruv Jurel (wk), 4 Riyan Parag (capt), 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Donovan Ferreira, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Nandre Burger, 11 Tushar Deshpande, 12 Sandeep Sharma

In the spotlight: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Sunil Narine

It’s difficult to take your eyes off Vaibhav Sooryavanshi when he is batting. Before the tournament started, there were murmurs of a second-season syndrome. But Sooryavanshi has shown no signs of it. In fact, he has even more incredible numbers this time. In five games so far, he has scored 200 runs – the most for RR – at a strike rate of 263.15.

Sooryavanshi’s first encounter with Jasprit Bumrah is a tale for the ages. On Sunday, he could be up against another great of the format: Sunil Narine. Even though KKR is having a horrid season, Narine has been as effective as ever. In five matches, he has picked up four wickets at an economy rate of 6.89. In the powerplay, he has bowled four overs for one wicket at an economy rate of 7.25. On a personal front, Narine needs four wickets to become the third bowler after Yuzvendra Chahal and Bhuvneshwar Kumar to reach 200 wickets in the IPL.

Stats and trivia

Ajinkya Rahane has a strike rate of 94.93 (75 runs in 79 balls) against Sandeep Sharma in the IPL.
Ravi Bishnoi has dismissed Rovman Powell five times in 39 balls in T20s while giving away just 30 runs.
Narine has kept Hetmyer and Jadeja quiet. Across all T20s, Hetmyer has a strike rate of 102.72 against him and Jadeja 89.28.
Varun Chakravarthy has dismissed Donovan Ferreira three times in ten balls in T20 cricket while giving away just five runs.

Pitch and conditions

The last two afternoon games on this particular surface, pitch no. 4, were won by the team batting first. But KKR and RR might not be swayed just by that, because in the first of those, KKR almost chased down 239 against Lucknow Super Giants, and in the second, Italy gave England a massive scare chasing 203 at the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Quotes

“When things are not going your way, you tend to think too many things. I feel it’s all about being in the moment. Just go out there and try to enjoy the game, back ourselves as a unit rather than thinking about the things that are not in our control. As a team, we just have to go out there, play our game and be aggressive and positive from ball number one.”
Ajinkya Rahane, the KKR captain

“When I watch Riyan bat, he’s batting really well. He is hitting the ball off the middle, he knows the ball is going where he wants it to go. There are some days when you’re batting well, you are just not getting the runs. You hit a good shot and suddenly you are like, how did I get out doing that? In the middle order in T20 cricket, you’re not looking at long innings, you’re looking at impact, and that’s something that Riyan can do really, really well.”
Kumar Sangakkara, RR’s director of cricket and head coach, on Riyan Parag

Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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