'Ask groundsman to make spin-friendly pitches': Faf du Plessis assists Abhishek Nayar's KKR before IPL 2026
Published - 18 Mar 2026, 05:22 PM | Updated - 18 Mar 2026, 05:23 PM
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The TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 is a few weeks away. Many players have arrived at their bases for the 19th edition of the tournament. Three-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will arrive with a new coaching setup in the form of Abhishek Nayar as the head coach and Shane Watson as the assistant coach.
The Knights did not perform well in the IPL last season, finishing 7th in the points table with just five wins and seven losses. KKR came in with the highest purse in last year's mini-auction with a purse of INR 63 crore. They bought the likes of Cameron Green, Matheesha Pathirana, Finn Allen, and Tim Seifert in the auction.
KKR to rely on spinners?
They have a lot of firepower in their batting. However, their bowling looks a bit weak, with Mustafizur Rahman out and Blessing Muzarabani in as a replacement, and Harshit Rana has also been ruled out of the tournament after knee surgery. They have the likes of Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, Kartik Tyagi, and Akash Deep in the line-up.
But the team will rely on their two frontline spinners, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. The two have been the key bowlers for the side over the years, especially Sunil Narine, who has been associated with the franchise since 2012 and was crucial in every title they won so far.
KKR are blessed to have two absolute cannons- Faf du Plessis
The Purple and Gold franchise did not get any spin help from the wicket of Eden Gardens. There were controversies over questions pointed at the curator, Sujan Mukherjee. However, ahead of the IPL, former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opener Faf du Plessis has tipped KKR management to seek spin wickets at the Eden Gardens.
“If I was part of the KKR team management, I would ask the groundsman to make the wicket spin-friendly. KKR are blessed to have two absolute cannons in Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine. They are two of the best T20 spinners in the game right now,” he said on JioHotstar.
“Both, Varun and Narine, have to be in the game. If they play on surfaces where they are not in contention, then you are losing those two cannons and your superpower. Yes, they can bowl well on any wicket, but for KKR to be successful this IPL, they need to fire. The pitch should be prepared keeping those two players in mind,” he added.
The Knights are going back to the old tactics of spin to win strategy
The spinners failed to pick wickets much wickets at the Eden Gardens as it suited the batters and had good pace and bounce with runs easier to score. Though Varun Chakravarthy picked 17 wickets last season. On the other hand, Narine picked 12 wickets.
Chakaravarthy will be looking to bounce back from his decent performance during India’s title-winning T20 World Cup campaign, where he took 14 wickets at an economy of over nine runs and finished as the joint-highest wicket-taker in the tournament.
Ajinkya Rahane has been named as the captain for the upcoming season. He previously raised concerns regarding the pitch not favouring spinners at Eden Gardens. The three-time champions will play their first game away from home against the Mumbai Indians on March 29.
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