Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bowl against Lucknow Super Giants at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune. Kolkata have to win every match from here to keep their playoffs hopes alive while Lucknow are very close to sealing their spot.
KKR suffered a huge blow as in-form pacer Umesh Yadav pulled his calf muscle and got replaced by Harshit Rana in the XI. Yadav has been the strike bowler for KKR this season in the powerplay overs.
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Skipper Shreyas Iyer talked about the crop and chopping and changing in the XI as he said that the injuries and the niggles have forced them to do so.
“We will look to bowl first. Considering the wicket which looks dry and dew is not going to play a massive role on this ground. We also chased pretty well in the last game. We have got one change, unfortunately, Umesh pulled his calf muscle and Harshit Rana comes in. It is really important as a captain to have a great combination right from the first game but there are so many injuries and niggles you have to keep chopping and changing, but that is part and parcel of the game. It has not been great start for us but we are coming on the back of a good win. Looking forward to have a great one here. I want to convert the starts I am getting and playing to the situation more than thinking about my form,” Iyer said at the toss.
Meanwhile, Lucknow also made a change as Avesh Khan returned to the side as Krishnappa Gowtham missed out.
LSG skipper KL Rahul said that the players are fresh after a brief break and raring to give their 100 per cent on Saturday.
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“We haven’t played too many games here. From whatever we have seen on the TV, it has been sticky and hasn’t been a high scoring venue. But it gives us a good opportunity as a batting unit to come out and put up a competitive total on the board. We have to assess the conditions and put a challenging total on the board. We have one change – Avesh comes in for Gowtham. That’s what gives us confidence and that’s what we want to be as a team, performing as a team and not rely on one or two players. We have had a couple of days break, the body is fresh and looking forward to going out there and giving our 100 per cent,” Rahul said.
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), KL Rahul(c), Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Ayush Badoni, Jason Holder, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Aaron Finch, Baba Indrajith(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Shivam Mavi, Harshit Rana
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