Fantasy Pick: Go with KL Rahul and Mohsin Khan
May 7: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Lucknow Super Giants, 53rd Match, MCA Stadium, Pune
Safe XI: Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul (capt), Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Krunal Pandya, Umesh Yadav, Dushmantha Chameera, Mohsin Khan (vice-capt)
Captain: KL Rahul
With 451 runs in ten games at a strike rate of 145.01, Rahul is the second-leading run-scorer this season. Against the Knight Riders' bowlers, who bowled in the last game, he has scored 226 runs at an average of 75.33 and a strike rate of 134.52 in the IPL, which makes him an automatic captaincy choice for this game.
Vice-captain: Mohsin Khan
The 23-year-old left-arm seamer has been mightily impressive for Lucknow Super Giants. He has taken eight wickets in four games at an economy of 6.07 and an average of 10.62. Overall, he has taken 41 wickets in 30 T20s at an economy of 6.95.
Hot Picks
Shreyas Iyer: The Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Shreyas Iyer is the leading run-scorer for his side and sixth-leading overall with 324 runs in ten games at an average of 36. Out of ten innings he has batted this season, he has recorded scores of 20 or more on seven occasions.
Umesh Yadav: With 15 wickets in ten outings, Umesh is the leading wicket-taker for Knight Riders and sixth-leading overall. Among the top 15 wicket-takers this season, his economy of 7.15 is the best. He is also the man with the golden arm in the powerplay picking up eight wickets at an economy of 6.44.
Differential Picks
Rinku Singh: The 24-year-old youngster who has struck form with scores of 42*, 23 and 35 in his last three games. He was in good form in the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as well, scoring 187 runs in five games at a strike rate of 146.09.
Dushmantha Chameera: The lanky pacer from Sri Lanka has cemented his place in the Super Giants' XI. In his last five outings, he has picked up six wickets. In fact, he has been in good wicket-taking form since the start of 2022, picking up 17 wickets in 16 T20s.
High-risk XI: KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer (capt), Nitish Rana, Sunil Narine, Krunal Pandya, Tim Southee (vice-capt), Dushmantha Chameera, Shivam Mavi, Mohsin Khan