Rishabh Pant and Ajinkya Rahane (Image: IPL)
Far from form and short of ideas, Kolkata Knight Riders are set to contemplate sweeping changes as they look for their first win of the IPL 2026 season against a confident Lucknow Super Giants at Eden Gardens on Thursday.Much of the spotlight will be on Mohammed Shami, who came off an impressive 2/9 spell against Sunrisers Hyderabad, in which he dismissed Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head – the same pair who had troubled KKR earlier. With favorable conditions expected, the Levantine seam movement could once again expose KKR’s fragile top order.
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Ajinkya Rahane press conference: KKR captain supports bowlers, responds to SR critics
Go beyond boundaries with our YouTube channel. Subscribe now!KKR were rocked early in their previous outing as well, falling to 16/2 before rain forced a loss to Punjab Kings.
Weather could still be a factor, although a late start will likely limit disruption.Apart from Shami, the depth of LSG’s bowling – including Prince Yadav and enigmatic spinner Digvesh Rathi – adds to the challenge. Their dominance at the power has already been evident, reducing opponents to 26/4 on two occasions this season.KKR’s batting remains a concern, with the Ajinkya Rahane-Finn Allen opening pair not clicking consistently.
There could be a reshuffle, while Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy’s form with the ball is another concern.Meanwhile, LSG will draw confidence from Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten 68 in the last match, buoyed by the experience of Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram at the top.
KKR vs LSG Face to face
- Total matches played: 6
- Kolkata Knight Riders: 2
- Lucknow Super Giants: 4
KKR vs LSG: Presentation Report
The match is likely to be played on the same surface used for the PBKS-KKR clash. Recently, the tracks at Eden Gardens have largely favored speculators, and this trend is unlikely to change.
However, weather can again play a role.Conditions were overcast on the eve of the match, with rain expected at sunset on match day. The Meteorological Department issued an orange alert on Wednesday and Thursday, indicating a strong possibility of a rain outage.
KKR vs LSG: Expected lineup
Kolkata Knight Riders XI Prediction: Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Cameron Green, Angkrish Ragvanshi, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Navdeep Saini, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi.Archaeological branch: Birkat Al-MuzarabaniLucknow Super Giants Prediction XI: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant (wk, captain), Nicholas Pooran, Aayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, M Siddharth, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Shami, Digvesh Rathi.Sub effect: Prince Yadav
KKR vs. LSG: Kolkata weather to update
There is a yellow watch for thunderstorms in the morning, with periods of rain expected early in the day and significant cloud cover throughout.
The maximum temperature is likely to be around 33 degrees Celsius. The good news is that skies are expected to be clear at night, with the temperature dropping to around 23 degrees Celsius.Rain is expected until around noon, with the chance of rain falling from 49% at 12pm to 0% at 7pm. As of now, no rain is expected during tonight’s game hours.
KKR vs LSG: Live streaming details
The KKR vs LSG match will be held at Eden Gardens in Kolkata and the match is scheduled to start at 7:30 PM IST.
The match will be broadcast on Star Sports Network, while the live stream will be available on JioHotstar.
KKR vs LSG teams
Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Rovman Paul, Sunil Narain, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Imran Malik, Cameron Green, Finn Allen, Mathisha Pathirana, Tejasvi Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Prashant Solanki, Rahul. Tripathi, Tim Seifert, Sarthak Ranjan, Daksh Kamra, Rasheen Ravindra, Blessing Muzarabani, Saurabh Dubey and Navdeep Saini.Lucknow Super Giants: Rabih Pant (c), Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Himmat Singh, Matthew Bretzke, Mukul Choudhary, Akshat Raghwanshi, Josh Inglis, Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Arsheen Kulkarni, Aayush Badoni, Mohammed Shami, Avish Khan, M Siddharth, Digvesh Singh, Akash Singh, Prince. Yadav, Arjun Tendulkar, Anrich Nortje, Naman Tiwari, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan.
