The Kolkata Knight Riders, currently ranked second with five matches played, four wins, and one loss, will face off against the Rajasthan Royals, who are in first place with six matches played, five wins, and one loss. 

The match is scheduled to start at 7.30pm IST (2pm GMT) in Kolkata.

Team News and Impact Player Strategies for Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals

Nitish Rana has been absent from KKR's lineup since sustaining a hand injury in their opening match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on March 23. Rana's return to training before their recent clash with Lucknow Super Giants hints at a possible inclusion if he fully recovers, especially given the presence of R Ashwin in the opposition team (details on this below).

Probable XI:

1. Phil Salt (wk)

2. Sunil Narine

3. Angkrish Raghuvanshi/Nitish Rana

4. Shreyas Iyer (capt)

5. Venkatesh Iyer

6. Rinku Singh

7. Andre Russell

8. Ramandeep Singh

9. Mitchell Starc

10. Vaibhav Arora

11. Harshit Rana

12. Varun Chakravarthy

Jos Buttler and Ashwin were absent from the Royals' recent match against Punjab Kings due to minor injuries. If fit, both are likely to return to the playing XI, with Tanush Kotian, who opened the batting and didn't bowl in the previous match, and either Rovman Powell or Keshav Maharaj, depending on the toss result, reverting to the substitutes' bench.

Probable XI:

1. Yashasvi Jaiswal

2. Jos Buttler

3. Sanju Samson (capt & wk)

4. Riyan Parag

5. Shimron Hetmyer

6. Dhruv Jurel

7. Rovman Powell/Keshav Maharaj

8. R Ashwin

9. Trent Boult

10. Avesh Khan

11. Kuldeep Sen

12. Yuzvendra Chahal