IPL 2016, RCB vs KKR Playing 11(Confirmed 11): Probable XI for Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders Match

KKR have lost a bit of momentum in their last two matches

The 30th match of the VIVO IPL 2016 will witness the Kolkata Knight Riders go head-to-head with the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Monday. The home side has found the going tough in the 9th edition of the IPL with 4 losses in 6 matches. Quite contrastingly, the visitors were on a roll after having won 4 out of their first 5 games but have been pulled back by 2 consecutive defeats. Both teams have their own set of problems going into the match. While RCB are struggling badly with their bowling, KKR's middle-order batting has not been up to the mark. The Bangalore team will be intent on changing their fortunes with a win on Monday whereas Kolkata will be looking to rediscover their winning touch.

Here's our prediction on the team that may represent the Kolkata Knight Riders against RCB:

Batting

As far as their batting is concerned, KKR's performance has hinged on how well the opening duo of Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa play. Skipper Gambhir is the leading run-scorer for his team with 302 runs in 7 innings at an average above 60. His partner Uthappa, on the other hand, has scored 242 runs at an average of slightly below 35.

Apart from the openers, only Suryakumar Yadav has made a decent contribution with 117 runs in 5 innings including a match-winning 60 against Rising Pune Supergiants. The middle order has been struggling quite a bit with the likes of Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan and Andre Russell failing to produce the goods consistently for Kolkata.

The Knight Riders will need to fix up a few things in their batting order to consolidate their position in the tournament.

All-rounders

The Kolkata Knight Riders have depended a lot on their all-rounders in the recent years but they don't seem to be clicking in this season. Even though he has been decent with the ball, ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been completely out of form in terms of his batting. Russell, too, has mainly performed in the bowling department and averages under 19 with the bat. KKR will be hoping their all-rounders can come good when needed most.

Bowling

KKR have outperformed most other teams in this year's IPL when it comes to bowling. Umesh Yadav has led the way with 9 wickets in 6 matches while Russell has claimed 8 wickets to be the 2nd most successful bowler for his team. Leading spinner Sunil Narine has also been among the wickets with 6 from 5 games.

Most of the other bowlers have also been quite good and have managed to add a few wickets to their kitty. However, in the matches that Kolkata have lost so far, a few issues have cropped up in the bowling department. The Knight Riders will want to plug these gaps quickly so that they do not have too much impact on their campaign.

Probable Playing XI

Gautam Gambhir (c), Robin Uthappa (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Colin Munro, Yusuf Pathan, Sheldon Jackson, Andre Russell, Kuldeep Yadav, Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav, Morne Morkel.