Anil Kumble wants misfiring KKR to move Venkatesh Iyer 'right up the order'

Going strictly by form, the one point Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) got from their washout against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Saturday night might count as a bonus for the defending champions, who have struggled to stitch together a decent run of results in IPL 2025. The reason for that, Anil Kumble feels, is that "they still haven't figured out the perfect XI".

On Saturday, they fielded their 17th and 18th players (out of 21) this season, bringing in Chetan Sakariya, an injury replacement for Umran Malik, and Rovman Powell in place of Ramandeep Singh. Sakariya got his chance with the ball but, because of the washout, Powell didn't get a bat.

With just seven points from nine games, KKR are in must-win territory if they are to make the playoffs.

"It's not like they have won two games and now need five in a row or things like that. So I'm not sure [about their chances]," Kumble said on ESPNcricinfo's Time Out show. "They made - what? - two changes [for the PBKS game]? Chetan Sakariya played his first game. Rovman made his debut for KKR. So obviously they have to stick to that [XI for the next game]. Although Chetan did bowl his overs [3-0-39-0], Rovman [didn't bat]. They will have to continue with that in the next game.

"In terms of quality and ability, I think KKR have it in them. If you look back at their Championship side last year versus this year, it's just that their players are underperforming. It's not that the personnel have changed that drastically. You have Quinton de Kock instead of Phil Salt. Quinton de Kock is equally destructive. [Rahmanullah] Gurbaz was there last year - he came in for Phil Salt [for the playoffs] and did really well. Sunil Narine played exceptionally well last year. Instead of Shreyas Iyer, you have Ajinkya Rahane as captain. He's batted really well at No. 3 for KKR. So there is not much change, but they need to do something to get all those points."

That "something" probably needs to come from the bat.

"Can't say we are happy or sad, it's unfortunate the match didn't happen," Vaibhav Arora, the KKR opening bowler, said at the press conference after the game. "If it had, we would have wanted two points and then hoped to take that momentum into the remaining games. But yeah, it's better to get one point than nothing. It could be that the one point we got today helps us get into the playoffs. But we have to win the remaining games and hope we get through.

"[Our] bowling has been all right, Harshit [Rana] and I are taking wickets, but we are lacking a bit with the bat. We had made a couple of changes today in the hope that it gets better. That's what we need to do, bat better."

For Kumble, the big change KKR need to consider is pushing Venkatesh Iyer to the top of the order. In KKR's IPL 2024 win, Venkatesh had a powerplay strike rate of 220. This season, he has been batting down at No. 4 or 5, has had just six innings, and has scored 135 runs at an average of 22.50 and a strike rate of 139.17. The 60 in 29 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) has been his only real performance of substance.

"They had an opportunity in this game to move Venky right up the order [in this game]. Open the batting with Sunil Narine and then bring in an Indian wicketkeeper," Kumble said. "Anyway, they were looking to drop Ramandeep - okay, fine, get [Luvnith] Sisodia in, he's not a bad player, he can keep wicket. And bring [Anrich] Nortje. Because Nortje can play instead of Chetan Sakariya.

"[Venkatesh] needs that pace on the ball. You have six overs, the powerplay, it's where he can play his natural game, hit over the top. He's done it in the past, that's how he got KKR back into the playoffs when they were down and out in Dubai."

KKR next play Delhi Capitals (DC) away on Tuesday, followed by home fixtures against Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and then away against SRH and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).