IPL 2023: 3 surprise picks for Dream11 fantasy teams for KKR vs CSK match

IPL 2023 heads to Kolkata tonight for a rematch of the 2021 season final between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders. CSK will start as the favorites to win this match because they are on a two-match winning streak. Meanwhile, KKR have suffered three losses on the trot.

Chennai Super Kings have played some top-quality cricket in recent matches. The MS Dhoni-led outfit will be keen to complete a hat-trick of victories by winning tonight's IPL 2023 match against the Kolkata Knight Riders.

KKR do not have any momentum by their side. After Rinku Singh's five sixes helped them defeat Gujarat Titans, KKR have lost their matches against the Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals and the Sunrisers Hyderabad. It will be interesting to see if they can end their losing streak tonight.

Top names like Devon Conway, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana and Jason Roy will likely be among the top picks for tonight's fantasy cricket contests in IPL 2023. However, fantasy cricket users should also consider picking the following three surprise names in their Dream11 teams because they can prove to be differentials.

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#1 Umesh Yadav (KKR)

Umesh Yadav won the Man of the Match award in the last game between KKR and CSK (Image Courtesy: IPLT20.com)

Kolkata Knight Riders battled the Chennai Super Kings in the opening match of IPL 2022 last year. In that game, pace bowler Umesh Yadav won the Man of the Match award for his match-winning spell of 2/20. Yadav picked up the crucial wickets of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway for the Kolkata-based franchise.

Yadav bowled only one over in his previous IPL 2023 match against the Delhi Capitals, which is why fantasy cricket users might be reluctant to pick him in their teams. However, they should not forget that Yadav bowled a brilliant spell against CSK last season.

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#2 Ajinkya Rahane (CSK)

Ajinkya Rahane played for Kolkata Knight Riders last season (Image Courtesy: IPLT20.com)

Ajinkya Rahane failed to make an impact in his previous innings of IPL 2023. The Chennai Super Kings batter could only contribute nine runs off 10 balls against SRH.

Rahane has batted well for CSK this season and should score big in tonight's match as he faced a lot of deliveries from the current KKR bowlers in the nets last year. He was with the franchise in IPL 2022, and would be accustomed to facing the likes of Sunil Narine, Varun CV, Andre Russell, Tim Southee and Umesh Yadav a lot in the nets.

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#3 Litton Das (KKR)

Litton Das scored only four runs on his IPL debut (Image Courtesy: IPLT20.com)

Litton Das had a forgettable IPL debut against the Delhi Capitals last Thursday. The Bangladeshi wicket-keeper batter perished for four after attempting a big shot off Mukesh Kumar's bowling.

KKR will likely give him one more chance to prove himself. The wicket in Kolkata is better for batting, which is why Das can make a bigger impact in tonight's IPL 2023 match. CSK pace bowlers are not so experienced as well, and Das could take advantage of their inexperience.