IPL 2026 | Match 28: KKR vs RR | Preview and Predictions

The winless Kolkata Knight Riders host a red-hot Rajasthan Royals side at home in the first game of this double-header Sunday.

Ajinkya Rahane and Co look woefully out of form. It seems like they just don’t have that spark to even get their campaign going. The inaugural IPL champions, meanwhile, will be looking to capitalise on their misery and move back to the top of the points table. 

Here, we present our preview and predictions for Match 28 of the 2026 Indian Premier League season.

Indian Premier League 2026 | Match 28: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals | 15:30 IST, April 19

The hosts are in a big spot of bother. For the first time in the history of the IPL, KKR have gone five games without a win to start a season. Their biggest issue this season has been the inability to find their best combination to field. A lot can be said about the thinking from the management at the auction last year, but that would be a different discussion. For now, KKR need to focus on the squad they have and bring the best out of the players at their disposal.

Five matches into the season, and KKR might have just figured out where to bat Sunil Narine, though the remainder of the batters still look like they are not sure about where to bat. Narine was moved up to the top of the order last time out, where he arguably should have been always, but his opening partner Finn Allen continued to struggle; the Kiwi is yet to bat outside the third over.

Ajinkya Rahane’s struggles outside the Powerplay are well known, and teams now are using it to maximum advantage. Angkrish Raghuvanshi remains the only positive for KKR with the bat, but the youngster needs to convert his promising starts to a big score. Down the order, Cameron Green and Rinku Singh have failed to get any runs under their belt, and only Ramandeep Singh and Rovman Powell have looked like they can provide the team with some fireworks at the end.

While their batting is in all sorts of trouble, KKR’s bowling hasn’t fared much better either. Vaibhav Arora has been leaking runs, whether it’s with the new ball or the old, and Varun Chakravarthy is yet to find a wicket this season as he continues to get taken to the cleaners.

Sunil Narine remains KKR’s go-to bowler, as he has been for the last decade and a half. Kartik Tyagi showed some promise with his pace and control last time out, which is a rare silver lining for the three-time IPL champions. KKR have used Anukul Roy in the Powerplay as well, and with Chakravarthy struggling, Rahane and the KKR management will expect Roy to step up and shoulder more responsibility.

In the other camp, after a stellar and flawless start to their campaign, the Rajasthan Royals suffered their first defeat of the season against SunRisers Hyderabad on a day when their usually explosive top order failed to get going.

RR have been heavily dependent on their top three for runs, with Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, and Dhruv Jurel doing the bulk of the scoring. The middle and lower orders haven’t done much, though, and when they got the chance against the SunRisers, they collapsed.

Middle-order batters Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, and Lhuan-dre Pretorius haven’t put up any substantial scores yet, with Pretorius having been brought in for the last game for the struggling Hetmyer. Ravindra Jadeja and Donovan Ferreira have provided some stability and runs lower down the order, but the RR management will know that they’ll need their middle order to step up as they go deep into the tournament.

With the ball, RR’s stand-out bowler this season has been spinner Ravi Bishnoi, while pacers Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger have been quick and among the wickets with the new ball. Sandeep Sharma and Tushar Deshpande have leaked some runs, and while Ravindra Jadeja hasn’t been used regularly, having him in the squad does add more depth.

The middle overs are where the Royals have leaked some runs, having been unable to put the pressure on opposition batters. Against a batting line-up with only a couple of left-handers, Ravindra Jadeja will be particularly key for the inaugural IPL champions.

Eden Gardens is a ground that gives batters a lot of joy, with a lot of runs on offer. The ball does grip a bit, and in this game we can expect spinners to play a key role.

Against the struggling hosts, who are in a woeful condition, we back Riyan Parag and Co to come out on top in this encounter and further compound the Knight Riders’ misery.

Fantasy XI: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Cameron Green, Ravindra Jadeja, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine (vc), Varun Chakravarthy, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Jofra Archer

Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Winners Prediction: Rajasthan Royals