IPL 2026: Kolkata Knight Riders' strongest predicted XI against Chennai Super Kings

Published - 13 Apr 2026, 20:00 IST | Updated - 13 Apr 2026, 20:00 IST

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) travel south to take on the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Match 22 of the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday, April 14.

KKR remain the only side yet to taste victory in this year’s tournament. With four games played, the three-time champions have just one point to their name, that coming thanks to a rain-affected game against the Punjab Kings at the Eden Gardens.

The Ajinkya Rahane-led side suffered their most recent defeat at the hands of the Lucknow Super Giants in a last-over thriller. LSG needed seven runs of the last two balls with KKR favourites to win their first game of the new season. Mukul Choudhary, however, had other ideas, hitting a six off the penultimate ball from Vaibhav Arora to rescue a win from the jaws of defeat.

Despite their poor form in the tournament, KKR are slowly finding their ideal playing XI. Their batting has been in some decent form, but they will need their bowling to fire against CSK if they wish to secure their first two points of the 2026 season.

KKR desperately need their top order to flourish against CSK to give them a solid platform to build the innings on. The opening duo of Finn Allen and Ajinkya Rahane is capable of scoring big in the first six overs of the game, but have not done it consistently.

Number three also remains a contentious topic for KKR. Depending on the start given to them by their openers, the management could send either Cameron Green or Angkrish Raghuvanshi. The latter has scored 155 runs from four innings at a strike-rate of 158.16.