KKR vs LSG, IPL 2025, Match 21: Ajinkya Rahane Wins Toss, Kolkata To Bowl First At Eden Gardens

Updates:

In what is a second successive home fixture for the Kolkata Knight Riders, Ajinkya Rahane has opted to bowl first against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). While the Lucknow Super Giants have stuck to the same eleven, the hosts have drafted in Spencer Johnson for Moeen Ali. Super Giants' Shardul Thakur is meanwhile, his 100th IPL match.

KKR playing XI: Quinton de Kock(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Spencer Johnson, Varun Chakaravarthy.

LSG playing XI: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Shardul Thakur, Akash Deep, Avesh Khan, Digvesh Singh Rathi.

Preview:

Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants will look to continue their momentum in IPL 2025 as the caravan heads to the iconic Eden Gardens on April 8, Tuesday. Rishabh Pant's men and Ajinkya Rahane's Knight Riders will face off in a double-header on Tuesday as they hope to register back-to-back wins.

The Knight Riders hammered the SunRisers Hyderabad in the home game last week by 80 runs, bouncing back in style from the eight-wicket drubbing against the Mumbai Indians. With Venkatesh Iyer coming back to form, it's an added advantage for the Knight Riders as they look to continue to stay on track to reach the playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Lucknow Super Giants prevailed by 12 runs in a high-scoring contest at the Ekana Stadium over the Mumbai Indians. Their bowling unit still remains a concern and Rishabh Pant's batting returns will yet again be a significant talking point as he has managed only 19 runs in four innings at a woeful 4.75.

IPL 2025: KKR & LSG squads

Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Luvnity Sisodia, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Mooen Ali, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Anrich Nortje, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markhande, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, Chetan Sakariya.

Lucknow Super Giants: Rishabh Pant, David Miller, Aiden Markram, Aryan Juyal, Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Marsh, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahamad, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Arshin Kulkarni, Ayudh Badoni, Avesh Khan, Akash Deep, M. Siddharth, Digvesh Singh, Akash Singh, Shamar Joseph, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Ravi Bishnoi.