GUWAHATI: Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders will play their final league match of current IPL season on Sunday evening in the city. The match will take place at the ACA Stadium, Barsapara.
Both teams have already earned a spot in the playoffs. With 19 points from 13 games, Kolkata Knight Riders are standing at the top of the points table ahead of Rajasthan Royals who have 16 points from 13 games.
On the other hand, City cricket fans have been eagerly waiting to know two things all day: Will Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shahrukh Khan be present at the ACA Stadium during the game, and is there a chance of rain on Sunday night?
News roaming around the city that Shahrukh will watch the game on Sunday. Although a key official of Rajasthan Royals stated that the Bollywoood star has expressed interest in attending, they have not heard anything official.
Although coming here with four straight defeats in last matches, Rajasthan Royals are making every effort to determine the winning fourmula before to the playoffs.
Talking to the media person on the pre-match press conference the Director of Cricket of Rajasthan Royals Kumar Sangakkara said, “We tried to hold the winning momentum, but unfortunately it was not happened. However, my players are performing admirably in the competition, and I have high hopes that we will go to the playoff winning the game tomorrow.”
Wicket of ACA Stadium generally helped the batter but it behaved completely different in the last game between Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings where batters struggled to take big hit. However, Sangakkara thought that the track was better than the previous game, saying, “I think the pitch was very good and we could have easily got 170-180. So it’s not the fault of the pitch”
In the meantime, Sangakkara gave Riyan Parag a lot of accolades today for his performance in this IPL. “Riyan put a lot of effort into getting to this position. The fact that he is succeeding this season makes me very happy. He looks more mature and hungry and is capable to surprise the bowlers with his stunning shots.”
Although Kolkata Knight Riders made it confirmed that they would play in the play off with number one team in the group but still the side didn’t want to make any experiment with the playing XI on Sunday. Talking to the media person Batter Ramandeep Singh said,“ Team is maintaining a good momentum and we don’t want to break it.”
Inform batter of Kolkata Knight Riders Phil Salt already returned to England on national duty. Ramandeep, however, today didn’t reveal his replacement in the playing squad. “He has been an integral part of the campaign. I am sure whoever replaces him will also do well because all of us have been putting in the hard yards,” said Ramandeep
The batter also added; “The final eleven of the match will be announced at the toss on Sunday.”
Meanwhile there may be a little relief for the cricket fans as weather forecast predicts rain in the early part of the day.
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