Indian T20 League 2023

KOL vs HYD, 3rd Match

Preview

The 3rd match of the Indian T20 League will be played between Kolkata and Hyderabad at the iconic Eden Gardens on Friday, March 23. 

KOL finished seventh in the last season while HYD finished at the bottom of the table. In a total of 25 games, Kolkata have won 16 matches compared to just 9 by Hyderabad. Also, it is notable to mention that the Nitish Rana-led Kolkata side dominated Markram and co in both the home and away fixtures of the last Indian T20 League season.

In the 2023 Mini auction, the two-time champions mentored by their ex-skipper Gautam Gambhir picked up 10 players from the list. They broke all records to add the services of Mitchell Starc to their pace arsenal, spending a whopping amount of ₹24.75 crores.

Gautam Gambhir’s return to the Kolkata franchise as a mentor was major news ahead of the Indian T20 League 2024. They will definitely focus towards solving all their mistakes and make a fresh start to this season. They made it to the Playoffs last in the 2018 season and competed in the finals in 2021.  

On the other hand, the one-time champions Hyderabad, added 6 players from the auction. They also spend a whopping amount of ₹20 crores to rope in Pat Cummins, the former Kolkata bowler. The World Cup-winning Aussie skipper is also directed to lead the HYD side in this season of the franchise league.

HYD have 8 world-class overseas players who are all respected seniors from their international sides. The question is now how will the management handle those players during team creation.

Both sides have domestic players who don’t have exposure to international cricket but can impress the crowd with their undiscovered and exceptional skills. 

Also, coming to the fitness part, Hyderabad have no such concerns but Kolkata has a big problem with their skipper Shreyas Iyer who is under treatment and not fit on medical grounds as per the National Cricket Academy. He will miss the first match of the season and a spine specialist from Mumbai has advised him not to stretch his leg too forward while defending the ball.

Gautam Gambhir’s tactical masterclass will surely make Kolkata one of the most powerful sides this season. GG has also started showing his experience, as the 2 times Indian T20 League champion asked the pitch curators to prepare slow wickets at home. 

Having worked with Kolkata in the past, the Aussie spearhead knows the squad inside out and has a vast and successful international stint with Australia. His crucial tactical acumen will bring out the best in the Deccan side.

Match Details

Match: KOL vs HYD, 3rd Match, IND T20 League 2024

Date: Saturday, March 23, 2024

Time: 07:30 PM

Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Pitch and Weather Report

The iconic Eden Gardens, Kolkata is one of the biggest venues in India with deep boundaries. It provides a flat pitch which allows batters to play their strokes on the go. The pitch will favour fast bowlers in the early stages of the game. Spin bowlers can prove handy during the middle overs and the big boundaries will offer them extra protection to experiment with their lines and lengths. 

Clear skies are forecasted on match day with a temperature ranging from 25 to 30 degrees Celsius. 

KOL vs HYD Squads

KOL: Shreyas Iyer (c), Srikar Bharat, Manish Pandey, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ramandeep Singh, Nitish Rana, Sherfane Rutherford, Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Vaibhav Arora, Dushmantha Chameera, Harshit Rana, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya, Mitchell Starc, Suyash Sharma, Varun Chakaravarthy, Sakib Hussain, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Philip Salt

HYD: Jaydev Unadkat, Jhatavedh Subramanyan, T Natarajan, Mayank Markande, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Pat Cummins (c), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Sanvir Singh, Glenn Phillips, Nitish Reddy, Marco Jansen, Abhishek Sharma, Upendra Yadav, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, Travis Head, Anmolpreet Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Abdul Samad, Akash Maharaj Singh, Wanindu Hasaranga

KOL vs HYD Probable Playing XIs

KOL: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Mitchell Starc, Varun Chakravarthy, Chetan Sakariya

HYD: Abhishek Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markarm, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Abdul Samad, Wanindu Hasarnga, Pat Cummins (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Jayadev Unadkat

Match Prediction

Kolkata has won 16 out of their 25 matches at home. Having in-form players, a better spin attack and they are expected to draw their first blood at the iconic Eden Gardens. 

Suggested Playing XI Real11 Fantasy Cricket

Team 1

Team 2