Kolkata, Apr 21 (UNI) Kolkata Knight Riders handed returns to Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Moeen Ali as they won the toss and opted to bowl first against Gujarat Titans in their crucial IPL encounter at the Eden Gardens here on Monday.
KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane said the changes were aimed at boosting the team’s balance as they look to climb up from seventh on the points table.
"This is generally a chasing ground. Slightly on the drier side, when we bowl, we'll get an idea how it's playing," Rahane said. "All the players are working really hard. We've made some errors but it's all about being positive."
Rahane expressed confidence in his middle-order despite recent inconsistencies. "I feel 5, 6, 7 sometimes is a tricky position to bat, but when it works well, it really looks well," he noted.
GT skipper Shubman Gill, who was happy to bat first, said conditions were not likely to change much over the evening. "I don't think there'll be any dew. If we post a nice total, it should be a good match," he said.
Gill praised the collective efforts of his bowling unit and singled out Rashid Khan’s impact.
"Everyone has been contributing with wickets. The way our bowlers have been controlling the totals has been tremendous," Gill said. "The skill-set that Rashid brings along with his bowling and the energy he brings on the field—any captain would love to have him.”
With both teams hungry for momentum, the evening promises a high-stakes battle.
Teams:
Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Sherfane Rutherford, Rahul Tewatia, Washington Sundar, Shahrukh Khan, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj; Impact Subs: Ishant Sharma, Mahipal Lomror, Anuj Rawat, Karim Janat, Arshad Khan
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy; Impact Subs: Manish Pandey, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rovman Powell, Luvnith Sisodia, Anukul Roy.
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