IPL 2026: LSG wins toss, puts KKR to bat first at Eden Gardens

KOLKATA: Lucknow Super Giants have asked Kolkata Knight Riders to bat first in match 15 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday. The Rishabh Pant-led LSG are coming after a win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the last game, whereas Ajinkya Rahane’s KKR will be hopeful of their first win of the season.

Speaking at the toss, DC skipper Pant said, “I think [we are] looking to bowl first. We want to put opposition at the back. As I said before, we trust our bowlers enough that they might do a good job for us. (How significant was that win?) We feel, you know, victory definitely adds to the atmosphere of the team. We always talk about being positive, having that intent at the same time. When you win, I think when people see all that is coming together, really happy for that. We’re playing with the same team. No change for us.”

Toss @LucknowIPL won the toss and elected to bowl first against @KKRiders

Updates https://t.co/ov5gAlAtPH #TATAIPL | #KhelBindaas | #KKRvLSG pic.twitter.com/lUmM8nQLo5

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 9, 2026

KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane informed that Varun Chakaravarthy is still recovering from his injury, whereas Sunil Narine has recovered and will feature in today’s home fixture.

“We wanted to bowl. (I’m thinking back to the previous game, actually, that’s why I asked that) That match didn’t get over, so you never know. Just one change – Sunil comes in place of Blessing, Varun is still recovering from his hand injury. When he (Green) is allowed to bowl, we will see him, the combination gets better, so Rovman Powell plays, when Cam Green bowls, then we have an extra bowler,” said Rahane after the toss.

Cameron Green was bowling during the practice session before the match and is expected to bowl in this match.

Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane(c), Finn Allen, Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi(w), Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Navdeep Saini, Kartik Tyagi

KKR Impact subs – Manish Pandey, Vaibhav Arora, Tejasvi Dahiya, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert

Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, Manimaran Siddharth, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Shami, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Prince Yadav

LSG Impact subs – Ayush Badoni, Matthew Breetzke, Shahbaz Ahmad, Mayank Yadav, Himmat Singh. (ANI)