3 player battles to watch out for in KKR vs PBKS, Match 36 of IPL 2024 ft. Andre Russell vs Kagiso Rabada

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be hosting the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Match 42 of the IPL 2024 season at the Eden Gardens on Friday, April 26. The hosts will be high on confidence after a morale-boosting one-run win over the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their previous game.

Punjab, on the other hand, have had several losses that could have gone either way and are tottering in ninth position on the table. However, any team can beat any other on any given day as both sides have some quality players in their ranks.

On that note, let's take a look at three match-ups that could be crucial in deciding where the game is heading:

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#3 Ashutosh Sharma vs Harshit Rana

PBKS all-rounder Ashutosh Sharma has arguably been the find of the IPL 2024 season after some incredibly effective knocks down the order. In five matches, he has scored 159 runs at a mind-boggling strike rate of 189.29 and almost snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Mumbai Indians with his best score of 61.

While the pace and bounce in the Eden Gardens surface may suit Ashutosh's power game, he may not find it straightforward against KKR bowlers like Harshit Rana. The youngster has made a name for himself with his cutters at the backend and this could be a fascinating face-off towards the business end of Punjab's innings.

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#2 Sunil Narine vs Arshdeep Singh

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru bowlers in their match against KKR might have handed the teams the blueprint on how to bowl to Sunil Narine. The southpaw has been smashing bowling attacks in the powerplay, but wasn't able to do so as the bowlers kept it away from his arc or cramped him for room.

PBKS could use the same tactic against Narine and also have a suitable match-up in the form of Arshdeep Singh. Arshdeep has conceded eight runs in the seven balls he has bowled to Narine in the IPL and has also dismissed the southpaw once. It will be interesting to see if the KKR opener has worked on something to counter the new plan.

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#1 Andre Russell vs Kagiso Rabada

The most high-profile match-up of the KKR vs PBKS match could be between speedster Kagiso Rabada and the explosive Andre Russell. Rabada has been used as an enforcer by Punjab and the visitors could unleash him when Russell walks out to bat.

Many may remember the sensational yorker that Rabada had bowled to castle Russell and have the latter on his knees during IPL 2019. However, Russell has got the better of Rabada in their IPL match-up with 60 runs scored off 27 balls. PBKS would want Rabada to produce a special moment to not just turn around the match up but also the game for the visitors.