The Kolkata Knight Riders will face off against the Sunrisers Hyderabad at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on April 2. Both teams are looking to bounce back after losing their opening matches in the IPL. KKR was defeated by the Mumbai Indians in a high-scoring match, while the Sunrisers struggled against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Each team aims to secure their first points in this encounter.
KKR vs SRH: Toss Update
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and chose to bowl first. Despite having a relatively inexperienced bowling lineup, Rahane expressed confidence in his bowlers. He mentioned recent rain in Kolkata influenced the decision to field first.
Pat Cummins Misses Out Again for SRH
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s regular captain Pat Cummins remains absent from the playing XI due to a lumbar stress injury. The Australian fast bowler has not yet been cleared to play in the IPL and is expected to return later in the tournament.
KKR vs SRH: Captain Statements
Ajinkya Rahane, KKR captain
“We are going to bowl first. There is always room for improvement, but there were many positives. The rain has affected the pitch, and we wanted to take advantage of that. We expect good conditions for the match. The team remains the same.”
Ishan Kishan, SRH captain
“We would have preferred to bowl first. Batting first, we must adapt and play well. Keeping things simple and executing our plans is key. We have made one change; Shivang Kumar is included for his wicket-taking abilities.”
KKR vs SRH: Playing 11s
Kolkata Knight Riders
Ajinkya Rahane (c), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Rinku Singh (vc), Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi, Blessing Muzarabani
Impact Players: Finn Allen, Manish Pandey, Tejasvi Singh, Saurabh Dubey, Rovman Powell
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (c), Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, David Payne
Impact Players: Harshal Patel, Liam Livingstone, Eshan Malinga, R Smaran, Sakib Hussain