Daijiworld Media Network

Kolkata, May 3: Hello and welcome to match 47 of the Indian T20 League between hosts Kolkata and Rajasthan. Gautam Gambhir's men can ill afford to be complacent. It is almost a must win situation for them every game from here on. Rajasthan on the other hand are sitting pretty at third place in the table. 2 points here will take them closer to an assured play-off spot. It is very interesting to see what the captain winning the toss will do.

Rajasthan have won the toss and elected to bat.

Rahul Dravid: We would like to keep the momentum going. We want to keep playing good cricket. We have played really well at home. Away we have not been as consistent as we would want to. We are not looking at the points table. It is tight and there are a lot of teams in that cluster. We would like to bat first. We shall play horses for courses. We have picked Brad Hogg and Ankeet Chavan for this game.

Gambhir: I think playing in front of your home crowd is a special feeling. Looks a pretty typical Kolkata wicket. I would have liked to bat first as well. A Left arm spinner comes in place of Balaji and Senanayake comes in for Lee.

Teams:

Kolkata (Playing XI): Manvinder Bisla(w), Gautam Gambhir(c), Yusuf Pathan, Jacques Kallis, Eoin Morgan, Debabrata Das, Rajat Bhatia, Sumit Narwal, Sachithra Senanayake, Iqbal Abdulla, Sunil Narine

Rajasthan (Playing XI): Rahul Dravid(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, Shane Watson, Stuart Binny, Owais Shah, Dishant Yagnik(w), Ankeet Chavan, James Faulkner, Brad Hogg, Siddharth Trivedi

Tweet by @rgcricket: At 42 years 86 days Brad Hogg is the oldest to play in Indian T20 League. Shane Warne who played his last game at 41 years 249 days held the previous record

Spinners for the game - Kolkata: Narine, Senanayake and the left arm spinner who is likely to be Iqbal Abdulla.
Rajasthan: Hogg and Chavan

Match Preview

Rajasthan were easily the better team when they played Kolkata a few weeks ago in Rajasthan and have remained that as the two teams clash again, this time at the iconic Eden Gardens. It will be a match-up of two of the best all-rounders in modern-day cricket (Kallis vs Watson) and it would be fair to say that whichever has the better day, will end up on the winning side.

Kolkata

Team News: Who would have expected the defending champions to be in such a positions. With just six points from 10 games, Kolkata are well on their way out of the tournament unless a miracle serves the City of Joy. But then Gautam Gambhir's men have hardly played like title holders. Sunil Narine's individual brilliance has done little to lift the side and despite some sterling performances by Jacques Kallis, Kolkata have failed to catch up with any momentum. Gambhir has been too angry on the field and now he is beginning to look funny with his exaggerated display of frustration. The captain's own form has taken a plunge after a promising start and add to that a terrible middle-order show and you know why the team finds itself in such dire straits. Coach Trevor Bayliss slammed his batsmen after an abject surrender to Delhi and he would be hoping for a far more improved show against Rajasthan at the Eden Gardens.

Team form: Lost to Delhi by seven wickets.

In-form player: Sunil Narine gave away only 14 runs off his four overs but returned no wickets. Delhi's batsmen were in no mood to take any risks against the West Indian and since they were not chasing too many, that did not hurt. Narine would need his batsmen to score more runs if he has to pose a threat.

Hit: Unfortunately for Kolkata, no other player has stood up as many times as Narine in this tournament. He is still a serious contender for the Purple Cap and remains their best cricketer on display.

Rajasthan

Team News: Not many would have given Rajasthan much of a chance when the sixth edition got underway but not for the first time has this team proven their detractors wrong. Rahul Dravid has been an exemplary leader and even though he might not have been dynamic with the bat, 'The Wall' has done better than some of the other Indian legends. Comfortably placed at third, Rajasthan are within touching distance of a play-offs berth.

Team form: Defeated Bangalore by four wickets

In-form player: Maybe it had something to do with relinquishing the Australian vice-captaincy or maybe it does not, but Shane Watson's form graph has headed for the sky since he made the announcement. From a breathtaking century against Chennai to almost another one in the next game to a solid 41 against Bangalore, Watson has been superb. What's more, the Aussie has been shining with the ball too. The last time Watto got up to his tricks in the Indian T20 League, Rajasthan won the title; who is willing to write them off this year?

Hit: Put this down to Dravid's faith in young talent. The skipper promoted a rookie 18-year-old up the order against Bangalore and Sanju Samson took the chance with both hands as he sent Virat Kohli's boys on a leather hunt, smashing 63 to help shape Rajasthan's victory. He will be the kid to watch out for in the next few weeks.

Miss: Ajinkya Rahane had started the tournament with a bang and was on course to put a disappointing Test debut behind him but has suffered a slum in form over the last four innings with scores of 14, 16, 1 and 2. Rajasthan would hope for him to regain some form before the business-end of the tournament.

Quotes: 'Shane Watson is one sportsman who truly embodies the daring spirit and has the ability to execute his skills under pressure cooker situations': Rahul Dravid, skipper, Rajasthan

CB Pick: Kolkata would be a determined lot no doubt and would be eager to impress their home crowd but Rajasthan are on a roll. Rahul Dravid might just show Gautam Gambhir who is the better captain after all.