Bangalore Royal Challengers and Kolkata Knight Riders can’t be blamed if they think of initiating a search for the proverbial Silver Bullet to erase all their troubles at one go. Both teams have faced a multitude of problems in the past fortnight, resulting in their Indian Premier League campaigns hitting rock-bottom.

The two struggling outfits face each other at the Eden Gardens on Thursday, their focus firmly on reviving sagging fortunes. Royal Challengers have a tougher task at hand as a slew of off-field controversies have hit them like a tsunami.

It was an eventful Tuesday for the visiting team. Chief Executive Officer Charu Sharma was asked to stepped down and there was talk coach Venkatesh Prasad going the same way. But 24 hours later, there was a more settled look about the team with Brijesh Patel taking over as the new CEO and Prasad firmly in the saddle.

Needed, steel

Now, it is up to the team to show that extra ounce of steel and start the journey towards the top of the table, which at this stage appears no more than a mirage. The role of skipper Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble will be vital in this regard.

Both Dravid and Kumble have successfully hurdled over numerous obstacles in their illustrious careers. It is true that the veteran duo has blown hot and blown cold in the IPL so far, but nothing motivates them more than a new challenge and a new mark to conquer. This is precisely the hour for them to add one more chapter to the endless list of their folklores.

It is also the time for them to instill that quality into their team-mates as many of them have resembled bewildered captives. This unit has shown that it can win matches, but it needs to make winning a habit to achieve its target of reaching the top perch.

The match against Knight Riders should fill them with a desire to avenge the heavy loss suffered on April 18 at the Chinnaswamy stadium. Then, Brendon McCullum had cut Bangalore to ribbons with a stunner, but the New Zealander isn’t around to invoke those painful memories.

The wicketkeeper-batsman has joined his national squad in England, and coach John Buchanan indicated that Shoaib Akhtar too will not be part of the playing eleven.

It will be naive to write off the Knight Riders, though they have faded away after a strong start by losing four matches on the trot. They still carry enough ammunition to outgun the Bangalore team. They have two top-class pace bowlers in Ishant Sharma and Umar Gul. The pace duo can be a handful if the pitch offers even the tiniest assistance.

The Bangalore batsmen have only fired in patches, and they need a paradigm shift in their approach to tackle Knight Riders' potent bowling duo. The visitors have the option of including veteran J Arun Kumar for the morrow's game in place of the injured Wasim Jaffer.

Jaffer out

The Mumbai opener, who has been improving with every match, had suffered a fracture in the hand and will be out of action for three weeks. It means his IPL campaign is all but over.

Though Kolkata team will miss the services of McCullum, Ricky Ponting and Chirs Gayle, they have a good assortment of local talent and the rock-solid David Hussey. They also have Sourav Ganguly, a master motivator and shrewd captain, besides being one of the more dangerous strikers of a cricket ball.

With both the protagonists having a lot to gain from this game, it will not be entirely out of place to visualise a thrill-a-second blockbuster.

Teams (from):

Royal Challengers: Rahul Dravid (capt), Jacques Kallis, Virat Kohli, Cameron White, Mark Boucher, Misbah-ul-Haq, R Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Anil Kumble, Sunil Joshi, J Arun Kumar, Sreevats Goswami, KP Appanna, Dale Steyn.

Knight Riders: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Ajit Agarkar, Siddharth Kaul, Ishant Sharma, Umar Gul, Ranadeb Bose, Ashok Dinda, Debabrata Das, Wriddhiman Saha, David Hussey, Iqbal Abudlla, Brad Hodge, Murali Kartik, Mohammad Hafeez, Laxmi Ratan Shukla.

Umpires: Asad Rauf and Ian Howell. Third umpire: Mark Benson. Match referee: Farookh Engineer.