Bolstered By Abhishek Nayar's Presence, Kolkata Knight Riders Eye Batting Revival Against Gujarat Titans

Reigning champions Kolkata Knight Riders will hope that their strife-ridden batting unit will tighten its act against in-form table-toppers Gujarat Titans in the IPL match in Kolkata on Monday. The Knight Riders suffered an inexplicable meltdown in their previous match, getting bowled out for 95 while chasing 112 against Punjab Kings in Mullanpur, and that collapse was a just reflection of the overall rot that has set among their batters. But they have a ray of hope. The reigning IPL champions have roped in Abhishek Nayar, who was recently sacked by the BCCI from the post of India's assistant coach, even before his exit from the national setup was made official.

The homecoming of Nayar, a former KKR assistant coach, is sure to give a fillip to the Kolkatans, who currently have six points from seven matches and need to win at least five of their remaining seven games to stay in the playoff race.

He has already begun working with key batters like vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer and Ramandeep Singh -- their two weak links this season.

Iyer, the team's most expensive player this season at Rs 23.75-crore, has scored only 121 runs at an average of 24.20, while Ramandeep has managed just 29 runs in six innings.

Andre Russell has only 34 runs in five innings, while Rinku Singh has scored 116 runs at an average of 38.66.

Only Rahane (221 runs, 2 fifties) and young Angkrish Raghuvanshi (170 runs) have shown promise, though the 20-year-old too has struggled with consistency.

At the top, Quinton de Kock and Sunil Narine have had a few good starts but have not delivered regularly and KKR will hope that Nayar will find a solution for it.

Two pitches have been prepared for this match, and one has an extra layer of grass that has not been