Preview: The defending champions have had a topsy-turvy start to their campaign under new captain Ajinkya Rahane. They have two wins and as many losses under their belt after playing four games. While they suffered crushing defeats, their victories have been one-sided. In the last match, the Knights got the better of Sunrisers Hyderabad by 80 runs at home. Lucknow also have two wins and two defeats from four matches so far in IPL 2025. They registered a thrilling 12-run win against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in their last game. Lucknow’s new skipper, Rishabh Pant, is under the pump after failing with the bat in all four games. He would want to bounce back strongly on Tuesday against the Knights.
Indian Premier League 2025, 21st Match, KKR vs LSG
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Date & Time: Tuesday, April 8, 03:30 PM
Pitch Report: There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the Eden Gardens pitch. As per reports, the picturesque stadium has two different kinds of surfaces ready. One is a high-scoring pitch, which has been more common at the historic venue in recent years. On the other hand, the second surface will assist the spinners more. In the last game, KKR scored 200/6 before dismissing the Sunrisers for 120. There was a decent amount of swing for the pacers upfront. The spinners were getting assistance, but it was by no means a rank turner. It will be important for the captains to read the pitch correctly before the match and make plans accordingly.
PROBABLE PLAYING XI
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): Quinton de Kock (WK), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (C), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Moeen Ali, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG): Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant (C & WK), Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Shardul Thakur, Akash Deep, Avesh Khan, Digvesh Rathi.
