Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) is all set to play their first match of the season against the Delhi Daredevils (DD) at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Wednesday. Though Daredevils have been in some serious trouble because of the injuries of Virender Sehwag, Varun Aaron and Kevin Pietersen, but still they are ready to put up a great fight against the strong batting line-up of KKR. Both the teams are looking to play the opening game on their strengths and therefore this contest will test the bowling strength of Daredevils and batting skills of Knight Riders.

Here we bring to you the players who can make the ample amount of difference with their cricketing ability in the opening match of the sixth edition of Indian Premier League.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)

Sunil Narine: Mystery Spinner is back to cast the spinning web around the opposition. He played an instrumental role in the KKR’s triumph last year and got his team out from the crunch situations on many occasions. His bowling will surely determine that how far KKR go in this tournament. His ability to turn the ball both ways without giving much clue makes him much more lethal.

Gautam Gambhir: Skipper of the Kolkata Knight Riders is ready to roar once again at Eden Gardens. He has not been amongst the runs in the recent international matches but a great turn-around is expected from him in this edition of Indian Premier League. If he comes with the flying colours in the opening match then for sure KKR might become unstoppable team in the league stages of the tournament.

T20 matches carries a lot of unpredictability and to cope up with that Gambhir has to be on his toes. His ability to march his troops in the league matches and his batting form will decide the fate of KKR this season.

Manoj Tiwary: Manoj Tiwary had been looking good in the domestic circuit and with the good last season of Indian Premier League; he would be eagerly waiting to make a huge impact this season. Tiwary gives a lot of flexibility to his captain not just because of his aggressive batting but also because of his part-time bowling which can be very handy at Kolkata wicket. Being a local boy, a lot is expected from him as no one knows the Eden better than him. Tiwary

Jacques Kallis: Kallis has been a brilliant performer for KKR since the time he has joined the team. With his ample of patience while batting makes him a cornerstone of KKR. He utilizes all his experience in galvanizing the innings and he also make sure that he plays till the end to led his team to a victory. If he doesn’t do well in batting, then he makes sure he will come up with something magical spells with his bowling. His fitness and consistency stands him apart from the all-rounders that World Cricket has ever seen.

Manvinder Bisla: “One fine innings can change your life” and this tag surely goes with Manvinder Bisla who played a brilliant knock in the finals of IPL-5 to handover the championship to KKR. His aggressive style of play will compliment his partner Jacques Kallis. This opening duo can be really dangerous especially in the first six overs of powerplay.

Delhi Daredevils (DD)

Mahela Jaywardena: Mahela Jaywardena has taken over the captaincy from Virender Sehwag for the sixth season of IPL. Jaywardena has always been known for his calculated-risk taking captaincy, though he looks calm but he is an aggressive player when it comes to batting. His ability to score quick runs and that too for long time will be a great asset to Delhi Daredevils.

David Warner: Warner is a live-wire on the field. His ability to score those big hundreds in the T20 makes him a real gem of a batsman. The way he starts taking on the bowling right from the word go makes him a very dangerous. His strength lies in taking the aerial root from the very beginning of his innings and to complement him well, he has Mahela Jayawardena on the other side, as he can play a role of sheath-anchor. Apart from his dashing batting abilities, his fielding ability is an added bonus for the Delhi. The way he throws himself on the field is a treat to watch. He is a pocket-size dynamo who can hurt the chances of KKR winning the opening affair of Indian Premier League.

Umesh Yadav: Umesh had a good run in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 and is surely looking forward to to perform. His pace has been his strength and at Kolkata he can be very dangerous. He can get extra bit of swing in the air which can make the life very difficult for KKR batting line-up. He missed the action of past four months because of the injury in his lower-back.

Irfan Pathan: Irfan has always played a crucial role in the success of Delhi Daredevils. His ability to hit sky-high sixes gives Delhi a lot of confidence. His swing-bowling has been the problem in the past but the way he had worked on that issue is really commendable. If he gets in to the rhythm, then he can do some serious damage to the KKR in the opening match. KKR is having a lot of right-handers in the squad and Irfan’s ability to bend the ball into the right-handers can be exploited very well by Jayawardena.

Andre Russell: The Jamaican all-rounder has been roped in to add some strength to Delhi’s all-round performance. He can be really handy with his swashbuckling batting and aggressive bowling. Within a year or so, he has made his place in the West Indian squad because of his brilliant all-round performances. If Pathan and Russell bowl in tandem, then it looks to be a tough road ahead for Kolkata.