IPL
KKR opt to bat first against PBKS; Varun and Narine miss out
Kolkata/IBNS: In search of their maiden win in IPL 2026, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and elected to bat first against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Eden Gardens on Monday.
Defying the forecast of rain, Rahane opted to make full use of his side’s formidable batting lineup and put runs on the board, aiming to ease the pressure on a relatively weakened bowling unit.
Changes to playing XI
KKR made two changes to their side, bringing in Rovman Powell and Navdeep Saini in place of Varun Chakravarthy and key allrounder Sunil Narine.
While Varun picked up an injury in the previous match, Narine is unavailable due to illness, Rahane confirmed at the toss.
Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer said his team remained unchanged.
Toss @KKRiders have won the toss and elected to bat first against @PunjabKingsIPL
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 6, 2026
Updates https://t.co/euWd7rFlqm#TATAIPL | #KhelBindaas | #KKRvPBKS pic.twitter.com/ko0vtfhhyh
Playing XI
KKR XI: F. Allen, A. Rahane (c), C. Green, A. Raghuvanshi (wk), R. Powell, R. Singh, R. Singh, A. Roy, N. Saini, V. Arora, K. Tyagi.
PBKS XI: P. Singh (wk), C. Connolly, S. Iyer (c), N. Wadhera, S. Singh, M. Stoinis, M. Jansen, X. Bartlett, V. Vijaykumar, A. Singh, Y. Chahal.
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