Losing two out of the three matches played so far is not a good position to be in. Both defending Champions Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad, their opponents in Thursday's Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Eden Gardens, are in similar situation - with two defeats in three matches.
But KKR' Mentor and former West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo put up a brave front and said the two defeats have not affected the morale in the team. Bravo said the message from him and the team management is not to think of the results but rather play well in the event.
Yeah, the message will always be from my side and from the coaching group to make sure that our morale and our energy are still in a positive place. Two losses yet, but it's still early days in the tournament. We're not the only team that has two losses and one win. But it's important for us to bounce back and that is our main focus right now and control the things that we can control.
KKR have started IPL 2025 with a loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Kolkata. They defeated Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets in Guwahati on Match 26. KKR were left embarrassed when they were bowled out for a paltry 116 and went down to Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede.
"We don't try to try to overemphasize any particular bowler or any particular batter. For me and the group, we need to trust our skills, trust our instincts, try to understand the game, and the tempo of the game, read the game, and trust their talent.
"So yes, we respect the opposition and the bowlers. We also respect their batters. But it's important for our group, our players to understand that the opposition also have to do their research on them as well.
"So we try to make sure that our group stays in a good space from a mental point of view so that they can go and perform well," said Bravo.
It will be a crucial match for SRH too as they are trying to put thier campaign back on track after two defeats in a row. SRH started IPL 2025 with a sensational win over Rajasthan Poyals after posting the second highest total ever of 286/6.
However, they then suffered a home defeat when they went down to Lucknow Super Giants by five wickets and also lost to Delhi Capitals by seven wickets in Visakhapatnam.
With both teams coming into Thursday's clash coming with similar form, it will all boil down to who manages to find solutions to their troubles quickly.
Both have had problems with their batting in their last two matches and there bowlers too have struggled as they have not had big totals to defend.
Though the two teams get into the match with similar form, Kolkata Knight Riders hold advantage based on past record.
They have played 28 matches with KKR winning 19 and SRH 9. KKR have won four of the last five matches while SRH's last win came on April 14, 2023.
The pitch is the spotlight as the KKR management, especially captain Ajinkya Rahane, is unhappy that they don't get to enjoy home advantage.
Probable playing XIs:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Sunil Narine, Quinton de Kock (wk), Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Venkatesh Iyer, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Spencer Johnson, Varun Chakravarthy
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Aniket Verma, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins (capt), Wiaan Mulder/Adam Zampa, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami.
