Indian Premier League (IPL) action will move to the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata today as the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) play their first home game of the season, where they will face Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in a blockbuster clash on Thursday (April 2) in a repeat of the 2024 final. Both teams have made a poor start to the season after losing their first game.
SRH was beaten by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) as the defending champions chased down a total of 202 with a record 26 balls to spare. On the other hand, KKR failed to defend 220 against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium.
KKR VS SRH IPL 2026 – Eden Gardens Pitch And Weather Report And Venue Stats
pitch report: The Eden Gardens pitch has been a source of controversy in recent years, with KKR and pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee not on the same page. Last year, the franchise’s captain, Ajinkya Rahane, had criticized the playing surface for favoring the home team. In 2023, stand-in captain Nitish Rana had done the same. However, Mukherjee has been vocal in making pitches that are sporting.
In recent years, the pitch at Eden Gardens has been batting friendly and seen high-scoring clashes. A similar one is expected today.
Boundary Length: The boundaries in Eden are moderately sized and among the bigger ones in India, with the square boundaries relatively short (66–68 meters), while the more challenging straight boundaries are slightly longer (76–78 m).
Venue Stats:
weather report: : There is no rain expected in Kolkata. However, it will be an extremely hot day with a maximum temperature (degrees Celsius) of 37 and minimum of 27.
KKR VS SRH Likely XI (+ Impact Player)
KKR Likely XI:Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Blessing Muzarabani, Kartik Tyagi (Impact)
SRH Likely XI: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (c/wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora, Harsh Dubey, Jaydev Unadkat, Harshal Patel, Eshan Malinga, David Payne (Impact)
