Shakib unpicked for KKR’s game against RCB

Bangladesh's star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was not picked in the Kolkata Knight Riders' playing XI against Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore in their Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter today after the tournament resumed in the UAE. 

Bangalore skipper Kohli, meanwhile, in his landmark 200th IPL game, won the toss and elected to bat at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. 

Shakib's performance in the first phase of the tournament in India before being postponed was sub-par. The 34-year-old could only score 38 runs and scalped two wickets bowling at an economy over eight an over in the three matches he played for Kolkata this season. 

And hence, it was not a total surprise to see Kolkata opting for West Indies' Sunil Narine to start instead of Shakib. The other three foreigners who started for Kolkata are skipper Eoin Morgan, all-rounder Andre Russell and pacer Lockie Ferguson. 

Kolkata are struggling in the tournament as they see themselves at seven in the points table with just two wins from seven games.  

Squads:

Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Venkatesh Iyer, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Nitish Rana, 4 Rahul Tripathi, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Lockie Ferguson, 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Prasidh Krishna

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Virat Kohli, 2 Devdutt Padikkal, 3 KS Bharat (wk), 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 AB de Villiers, 6 Wanindu Hasaranga, 7 Sachin Baby, 8 Kyle Jamieson, 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal