Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will face Rajasthan Royals (RR) in match number 28. Indian Premier League 2026 on 19th April at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. KKR are currently at the bottom of the points table with just one point, while RR are placed third with eight points.
KKR vs RR: Toss update
Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag won the toss and elected to bat first, considering the surface to be dry and could help in the first innings. He also said that the previous defeat was a learning period for the team. On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane said that considering the current situation of the team, the batsmen should play with less pressure and focus on the controllable aspects of the game.
Hetmyer, Brijesh In; Pretorius, Deshpande made way
Rajasthan Royals made two changes to their playing eleven, bringing back Shimron Hetmyer and Brijesh Sharma. Luan-Dre Pretorius and Tushar Deshpande made way for the pair. Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders came in with an unchanged lineup from their previous match.
KKR vs RR: What did the captains say?
Ajinkya Rahane, KKR captain
We also wanted to bat. As I said in the last match also, the batsmen should bat with freedom. The kind of situation we are in at the moment, we want all the batsmen to bat freely, take a fearless approach. The bowling unit is performing well. He started performing really well. In the last three matches, especially in the middle overs and the end overs, he bowled really well. That was the reason why we thought of batting first. But happy to lose the toss. We believe the past is dead, the future, we don't know what's happening. And now what we have right now is this moment. So give your best, play with freedom and focus on the controllable things. Sometimes when you lose a game you try to think about a lot of things. I think the boys' preparation has been fantastic. They are in good spirits. The results can go either way. So it's all about living in the moment and playing with freedom. Same team.
Riyan Parag, RR captain
We are going to bat first. It looks like a very dry wicket. The grass was mowed yesterday in hopes of some turn in the first innings, but then a bit more around the second innings, so it's about right. Last year we fell behind, but the amount of turn Varun and Narine got last year too, we feel if we get a little bit, we've got really quality spinners, so trying to set the tone, get starts early and then hopefully defend that. Win or lose, our strategies will remain the same. Our discussions remain the same. We always try and look at the mistakes that we have made and try and see what we have done better and what we can do better. So I think the last match was a learning one. Hopefully in this match we will not repeat the same things and remain on top. Hetmyer comes back, Luan walks out. Tushar gets rest and Brijesh Sharma comes.
KKR vs RR: Playing XI
Kolkata Knight Riders
Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Tim Seifert (wicketkeeper), Cameron Green, Rovman Powell, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi, Varun Chakraborty
Influential players: Manish Pandey, Finn Allen, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Tejasvi Dahiya, Navdeep Saini
Rajasthan Royals
Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (captain), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Joffra Archer, Nandre Berger, Brijesh Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi.
Influential players: Sandeep Sharma, Shubham Dubey, Luan-Dre Pretorius, Ravi Singh, Yash Punja
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