Kolkata Knightriders will take on Deccan Chargers at Eden Gardens on Monday. Both teams lost their first games against Chennai and Rajasthan respectively. Kolkata lost to Chennai due to poor captaincy by Gautam Gambhir while DD lost against weak Rajasthan due to lack of balance in the team.  Match venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata.  Match timing: at 8 PM on April 11.   Ratings for Teams & Captains:     KKR: Team - 8/10 & Captain - 7/10.  DC: Team - 7/10 & Captain - 8/10   Major battles:   1. KKR Batting Vs DC bowling.  2. Dale Steyn Vs Jacques Kallis.  Best strategy: Batting second on Eden Gardens is not easy especially for KKR as DC has 2 good spinners - Pragyan Ojha & Amit Mishra & Steyn.   Analysis of KKR & DD:    Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR):   KKR lost first game to Chennai due to lack of passion and uninspirational captaincy by Gautam Gambhir. Jacques Kallis's wonderful innings failed to help KKR as other batsmen played careless shots. I don't know why they dropped Ryan Does Chate. Most expensive players - Gautam Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan - are the worst performers in that match. Their strength is in the batting but bowling is not adequate - fortunately DC is not a strong batting side.  Not available for selection: Brett Lee, Brad Haddin & Shakib Al hasan.  Probable squad: Gautam Gambhir (Captain), Jacques Kallis, Maninder Bisla, Manoj Tiwary, Eoin Morgan, Rajat Bhatia, Yusuf Pathan, Iqbal Abdulla, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, L. Balaji & Sarabjit Ladda/Ryan Does Chate.   Deccan Chargers (DC):   DC has very good bowling line-up but its batting is the problem. If they can not play well against weak KKR bowling, it will be difficult for them to bounce back against stronger sides. DC already lost to weak Rajasthan Royals. Daniel Christian, Ishank Jaggi (Jharkhand) & Raviteja were impressive against RR. But, Pragyan Ojha bowled poorly while Ishant and Mishra are o.k but not exceptional.  Not available for selection: Cameroon White.  Probable squad: Kumara Sangakkara (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ishank Jaggi, JP Duminy, Daniel Christian, Raviteja, Dale Steyn, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra, Bharat Chipli/some local player.   IPL Prediction: KKR has clear edge over Deccan Chargers on the home ground. If Captain Gautam Gambhir does not repeat silly mistakes and lead team confidently, KKR will win this match.   … [Read more...]