Kolkata Knight Riders have decided to bat against Chennai Super Kings.
KKR’s Ajinkya Rahane, the captain for today’s match against CSK at Eden Gardens, has opted to bat first. This is KKR’s final league game of IPL 2025 at this venue. With only three games remaining before playoffs, KKR must secure victories in all of them to have a chance at advancing. On the other hand, CSK has already been eliminated from the competition.
KKR enters this game with back-to-back victories. In both instances, they took the first turn to bat, which influenced Rahane’s choice at the toss. Prior to the match, the surface at Eden Gardens appeared sticky, with some plates coming loose – meaning spin bowlers may play a role as the game progresses.
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KKR was missing Venkatesh Iyer due to an injury sustained during training before the match, resulting in him having stitches on his hand. As a replacement, Manish Pandey was included. The starting XI for KKR boasts of a strong batting lineup, with Moeen Ali placed at No. 9. Their probable Impact Player is Harshit Rana, but in case the pitch favors spinners, Anukul Roy or Mayank Markande might also be brought in.
CSK made three alterations to their lineup, with Urvil Patel earning his debut after being signed as a replacement for the injured Vansh Bedi. Additionally, offspinner R Ashwin and New Zealand’s top-order batter Devon Conway returned to the team. This saw Shaik Rasheed, Deepak Hooda and Sam Curran being replaced. As for Shivam Dube, he is expected to come off the bench as their Impact Player during their chase.
At the top of the batting order for Kolkata Knight Riders will be Sunil Narine, followed by Rahmanullah Gurbaz as wicketkeeper. Ajinkya Rahane will lead the team as captain while Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, and Rinku Singh make up the rest of the middle order. The explosive Andre Russell will provide firepower in the lower order alongside Ramandeep Singh. Moeen Ali, Vaibhav Arora, and Varun Chakravarthy complete the bowling line-up for Kolkata Knight Riders.
The Impact Player list includes Anrich Nortje, Mayank Markande, Harshit Rana, Anukul Roy and Luvnith Sisodia.
The players representing Chennai Super Kings include Ayush Mhatre, Urvil Patel, Devon Conway, Ravindra Jadeja, Dewald Brevis, R Ashwin, MS Dhoni as the captain and wicket-keeper, Anshul Kamboj, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, and Matheesha Pathirana.
The impact player list includes Shivam Dube, Deepak Hooda, Jamie Overton, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, and Ramakrishna Ghosh.
