Kolkata Knight Riders predicted XI for IPL 2021

Middle Order: Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik (wk)

Dinesh Karthik won't look back on his IPL 2020 campaign too fondly

Coming in at No. 3 will be Nitish Rana. The southpaw started off IPL 2020 with a series of starts, but failed to convert any of them into a big score. Just as it seemed like his season would be an utter disappointment, a move to an opening slot saw him notch up big fifties and ducks in alternating fashion.

Rana is another KKR batsman who'll aim to be more consistent this time around and not throw his wicket away after getting starts. He may even be needed to chip in with the ball.

Eoin Morgan didn't bat at No. 4 very often last year, but he and his team have learnt the hard way that the batting order can't be shuffled around too much. The English white-ball skipper will know that he needs to bat at his favourite position for the good of the team, and employ the other batsmen - Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell - lower down the order.

Karthik is at his best when he's finishing innings, both for KKR and the Tamil Nadu state team. The 35-year-old is coming off a highly disappointing IPL season in which spin proved to be his downfall more often than not, and he'll want to lead from the front even though he doesn't have the 'captain' tag associated with his name anymore.

Karthik is also the only Indian wicket-keeping option KKR have, and his fitness is of utmost importance to the team composition. Tim Seifert is the only backup KKR have, and their overseas combination will be greatly disturbed if the Kiwi must be fielded in the playing XI.