Russell and Narine to rejoin KKR ahead of must-win match against RCB

Most of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) overseas players are expected to arrive in Bengaluru between Wednesday night and Thursday morning as IPL 2025 prepares to resume on May 17. The tournament restarts with KKR facing a must-win game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

KKR's West Indian contingent of Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Rovman Powell and team mentor Dwayne Bravo have been in Dubai since they left India after the IPL was suspended on May 9 following cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan. Following the announcement of a ceasefire on May 10, the resumption of the IPL became a possibility and teams began recalling their overseas players.

Wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz, currently in Kabul, will join the West Indian contingent in Dubai and fly to India, while South African fast bowler Anrich Nortje will join the squad in Bengaluru from the Maldives.

Allrounder Moeen Ali and fast bowler Spencer Johnson are the farthest away - in the UK and Australia respectively - and an update on their availability is awaited, though indications are they will return. There was no confirmation yet on whether Quinton de Kock will return. Meanwhile, KKR's Indian players and support staff are expected to arrive in Bengaluru in batches from Wednesday.

KKR are sixth on the points table with five wins and one no-result from 12 matches. After the game against RCB, KKR's final league game is against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Delhi on May 25. They need to win both fixtures to get to 15 points to have any chance of qualifying for the playoffs.

The IPL released the revised schedule for the remainder of the season on Monday: there are 13 league games to go, in addition to the four playoff fixtures. The rest of the league phase will be played at six venues - Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Bengaluru - while the venues for the playoffs have not yet been announced. The dates for the playoffs are as follows: Qualifier 1 on May 29, the Eliminator on May 30, Qualifier 2 on June 1 and the final on June 3.