Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer has won the toss and elected to bat first in Mullanpur in the IPL 2025 game against defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The Knight Riders have affected one change to their eleven, bringing in Anrich Nortje for Moeen Ali. Meanwhile, the hosts affected two changes, drafting in Josh Inglis for Marcus Stoinis and Xavier Bartlett for the injured Lockie Ferguson.
PBKS playing XI: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Nehal Wadhera, Josh Inglis, Shashank Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.
KKR playing XI: Quinton de Kock(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Anrich Nortje, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Preview:
Punjab Kings hit a significant low point against the SunRisers Hyderabad in their last IPL 2025 game as the latter chased down 246 with ease to register their second win of the season. Hence, Punjab will be keen to restore their winning run as they are slated to lock horns with the Kolkata Knight Riders on April 15, Tuesday in Mullanpur.
Punjab Kings won the first two matches, followed by losing to the Rajasthan Royals that succeeded in defeating the Chennai Super Kings. However, a loss as crushing as the one that came to the SunRisers, has put question marks on their bowling. The magnitude of the injury of pacer Lockie Ferguson is yet to be ascertained as the New Zealand cricketer left the field just two deliveries into his spell. Batting arguably remains their strongest suit.
The Knight Riders, meanwhile, are coming off a massive eight-wicket victory over the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Chepauk. With the pitch in Mullanpur usually known to play slow, the spin trio of Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy and Moeen Ali will find the conditions suitable. Hence, they could once again exploit the conditions to full affect.
PBKS vs KKR Squads:
Punjab Kings squad: Shreyas Iyer (c), Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Shashank Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Harpreet Brar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Thakur, Marco Jansen, Josh Inglis, Lockie Ferguson, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harnoor Pannu, Kuldeep Sen, Priyansh Arya, Aaron Hardie, Musheer Khan, Suryansh Shedge, Xavier Bartlett, Pyla Avinash, Pravin Dubey, Nehal Wadhera.
Kolkata Knight Riders squad: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Anrich Nortje, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Spencer Johnson, Luvnith Sisodia, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Chetan Sakariya
