IPL 2021, PBKS vs KKR Playing 11 (BCCI/IPL)IPL 2021, PBKS vs KKR Playing 11: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to bowl against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their IPL 2021 contest at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday.
KKR fielded an unchanged side while PBKS pacer Chris Jordan replaced left-arm spinner Fabian Allen. Both the teams are currently in the lower-half of the table, with the KL Rahul-led unit on four points and the Eoin Morgan-led side on two points.
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Eoin Morgan (c), Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Sunil Narine, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy.
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): KL Rahul (c/wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Moises Henriques, Shahrukh Khan, Chris Jordan, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh.
PBKS will be looking to notch up their third win of the season against a dwindling KKR. Follow all the live commentary here.
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): KL Rahul (w/c), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Moises Henriques, Shahrukh Khan, Chris Jordan, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (w), Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy
Kolkata Knight Riders have won the toss and have opted to field. "We're going to bowl first. Excellent ground and good outfield, seems a good surface. We're going with the same team. We're looking to make a big step forward today," says Eoin Morgan.
After the matches in Chennai and Mumbai, the IPL caravan is moving to Delhi and Ahmedabad before finishing the league phase in Bangalore and Kolkata. The first match in Delhi is on Wednesday, a city that has been facing an oxygen shortage. | READ MORE |
The contest between Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders will take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. It will be aired live on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 3 and Star Sports 3 HD. It will be streamed live on Disney Hotstar.
Pat Cummins announced a USD 50,000 donation for oxygen supplies in India’s COVID-19 ravaged hospitals and backed the IPL to continue, saying he has been “advised” that the Indian government views it "as a few hours of joy" in a difficult time. | READ MORE |
Punjab Kings (Probable XI): KL Rahul (c/wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Moises Henriques, Shahrukh Khan, Jhye Richardson, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi
Kolkata Knight Riders (Probable XI): Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (c), Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (w), Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins, Harbhajan Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy
The wicket in Ahmedabad should be a balanced one with something in it for both seamers and spinners. While the pitch could be on the slower side, batsmen should find it easy after settling in. A score of around 170-180 runs could be competitive on Monday.
KKR has faced off against PBKS 27 times in the IPL since 2008, holding a whopping 18-9 win-loss advantage. In the last five encounters, Kolkata have dominated Punjab, winning four times. KKR and PBKS shared a victory each when they met last season.
KKR, led by Eoin Morgan, continued to slide after losing to RR by six wickets in their last match. Pat Cummins played an incredible innings -- 66 not out -- for a losing cause against CSK but KKR would like their specialist batsmen to deliver consistently instead of relying on the lower order. Shubman Gill and Morgan have been in woeful form and they desperately need big scores to make themselves count. Gill has scored just 80 runs from his five innings. Morgan is even worse with just 45 from five innings.
Captain KL Rahul has been one of the few consistent performers in the formidable-looking Punjab batting unit and he once again led by example against MI with an unbeaten 60, his third fifty in five games. Mayank Agarwal has been the other main performer and the return to form of 'Universe Boss' Chris Gayle against MI with a 43 not out should be good news for Punjab.