opening batter finn allen Match No. 25 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Gujarat Titans (GT) is playing out as both the sides are engaged in a fierce battle of bat and ball at the massive venue of Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
GT vs KKR: Toss update
At the time of the toss, the visiting captain called it right, and with the coin going in his favour, he confirmed that KKR will bat first at the venue. Surprisingly, Rahane's counterpart Shubman Gill was happy to bowl first as he would have wanted his team to chase the target had they won the toss in the ongoing encounter.
GT vs KKR: Visitors oust Finn Allen as opener; host unchanged
Gujarat Titans did not make any changes in their playing combination compared to the previous match, where they won quite easily. But the most shocking and only exclusion was for KKR, who dropped their opening batsman-cum-wicketkeeper Finn Allen. After being dropped from the team, Allen was replaced by his fellow New Zealand international Tim Seifert.
GT vs KKR: What did the captains say?
Ajinkya Rahane, KKR captain,
We would like to bat first. We just want our batsmen to play openly and freely. In the kind of tournament we have seen so far, we have tried to do everything, including chasing the target and batting first. I thought it would be a good way to give freedom to the batsmen and then defend the total. I learned that batting first is a good option. But still, sometimes you don't have to rely too much on data and statistics. It's all about what you feel as a team and what you strongly want to do. As I said, we just want to change the kind of tournament we have seen so far.
I thought batting first was a good option. It's all about, if you are doing well, people will say good things about you. If you are not, they will criticize you. It is an integral part of any player's life. It's about staying confident as a team and supporting each other through tough times; This is what matters. We always talk about character in the team, and I think we have really good character. We just want to focus on our strengths and play good cricket. T20 is all about momentum, winning small moments. Today we just want to play fearless cricket and stay in the present. Just a change. Tim Seifert has come in place of Finn Allen.
Shubman Gill, GT Captain,
To be honest, we would have bowled first. I always think the weather is getting a little warmer, so there might be some dew around. We haven't seen that in the last 3-4 matches that we have played, but as we progress in the tournament, with the weather getting warmer, there may be some dew. Even in the last match, I think our batting collapsed in the middle, we lost five wickets from 11 to 15 overs. Otherwise, this should have been a pretty comfortable target against Rajasthan Royals.
It's about doing simple tasks consistently as a group. It's about doing small things as well as possible. This is something we always talk about in team meetings, keep the simple things simple. Don't make it too complicated as this is a technical game. The more you complicate it, the more difficult it becomes. we got Same team.
GT vs KKR: Playing XI
gujarat titans
Shubman Gill (captain), B Sai Sudarshan, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Ashok Sharma, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj.
Impact Options: Jason Holder, Shahrukh Khan, Manav Suthar, Kulwant Khejroliya and Anuj Rawat
Kolkata Knight Riders
Tim Seifert, Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Cameron Green, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi
Varun, Manish Pandey, Finn Allen, Tejasvi Dahiya and Navdeep Saini
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