Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant, right, and Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane (PTI Photo)
The much-awaited return of Mathisha Pathirana will have to wait, as Kolkata Knight Riders left the Sri Lankan out of the starting XI for their crucial encounter against Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium.Despite their availability, KKR opted for continuity. Captain Ajinkya Rahane said, “We were looking to bat first. Right now, it is important to see how we play as a team. The bowling unit is coming together well. The reason why we wanted to bat first is to give freedom to our batting unit so that they can bat freely.” He added that the break helped reset the side. “The rest week was really important. We sat together and thought about the last seven games and the areas we need to improve.”
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Rishabh Pant won the toss and chose to bowl, stressing the need for clarity in execution. “We want to put the opposition on the defensive first and find answers as a striking group,” he said. Pant also confirmed one change, with the arrival of George Linde, “We have a lot of leaders in the group. We are close to finding our way. We just need to stick together.”With both teams sitting at the bottom of the table, the decision to drop Patirana adds another layer of intrigue to a must-win competition.
the difference:Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane (C), Tim Seifert (W),
Cameron Green
Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rovman Powell, Rinku Singh,
Sunil Narine
Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik TyagiLucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant, Nicholas Pooran, Aayush Badoni, Mukul Choudhary, George Linde, Mohammed Shami, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Mohsin Khan.