SRH skipper Pat Cummins won the coin toss and elected to field first against KKR at Eden Gardens.
Hinting at the potential impact of spin tonight, KKR’s lineup saw one alteration as Moeen Ali stepped in for Spencer Johnson. During his sole IPL 2025 match, Moeen impressed with figures of 2 for 23 on a turning pitch in Guwahati. Meanwhile, SRH introduced Sri Lanka’s Kamindu Mendis into their bowl-first starting eleven, replacing Wiaan Mulder, while Travis Head awaited his chance as an Impact Player on the bench.
Cummins acknowledged that SRH faced a tough loss to KKR in the previous season’s final and expressed his desire for a different outcome. The team did address their batting struggles in their last two matches, but he believes they excel when playing with aggression. He assured that the team is not overly concerned about the issue.
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Rahane expressed his satisfaction with the pitch and also preferred to bowl first. He remained optimistic about the potential success of his spinners and acknowledged the need for swift assessment of conditions.
SRH’s choice to bowl was intriguing, considering their tendency to set a high score and then defend it.
KKR and SRH both have a solitary victory in their initial three matches, each against Rajasthan Royals.
The starting lineup for KKR, who will be batting first, consists of Quinton de Kock as the wicketkeeper, followed by Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane as the captain, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Moeen Ali, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Varun Chakravarthy.
The starting lineup for SRH, who chose to bowl first, includes players such as Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen as the wicketkeeper, Aniket Verma, Kamindu Mendis, Simarjeet Singh, Pat Cummins leading as captain, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami and Zeeshan Ansari.
