Varun Chakraborty (AP Photo) NEW DELHI: Kolkata Knight Riders will take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru in a must-win IPL 2026 clash at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Raipur. KKR, currently eighth in the points table with four wins, five losses and nine points, need a win in all their remaining matches to keep their playoff hopes alive.The franchise will also be hoping that star spinner Varun Chakravarthy recovers in time for the crucial match against RCB.
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Mahela Jayawardene reflects on MI’s disappointing IPL 2026 campaignWill Chakravarthy play against RCB? KKR are sweating it out for fitness ahead of the competition.Assistant coach Shane Watson said Chakravarthy, who aggravated a left leg injury in the previous game, remains a doubt for the game.“He’s just being monitored at the moment. He was obviously sore the second last game and the last game he was in a lot of pain, even though he was still playing incredibly well,” Watson said.“We’re crossing our fingers that he’ll be available tomorrow, but we’re still not entirely sure.”Watson also heaped praise on young batsman Angkrish Raghuvanshi, describing his skill level as “amazing”.“His skill development as a 21-year-old is pretty amazing, to be honest. It’s amazing to me to see his ability to adapt to different conditions, different pitching players and have all the skill and shooting options to navigate it as well as he can.”Watson added that KKR have finally started to settle as a unit after a slow start to the season and expressed his belief that the side can make a late push for the IPL playoffs.“To be completely honest, we haven’t talked about anything like that in the future at all,” Watson said ahead of the game against defending champions RCB.“From the time we were halfway through the tournament to the cricket we played especially in the last few games, it was very impressive to see our group really come together in all aspects.“We are all optimistic and we know that there are teams that have come and raged in the final after not starting the season so well. The history of the IPL has shown that, so we certainly know that it is possible.”Watson said the team needed time to adjust after the big changes after the auction.“It was always going to take a bit of time for everyone to really work into where everyone fits into the squad and the team because there’s been quite a bit of turnover from last season to this season,” he said.“And now that things have come together very nicely, our batting order is a lot more solid. With our complete lineup, we’ve gotten a better understanding of what really works for us.”
