IPL 2025: Powell, Sakariya debut for KKR as PBKS elect to bat

Kolkata, April 26 (IANS) Punjab Kings (PBKS) won the toss and elected to bat first against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in match 44 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, here at the Eden Gardens.

For PBKS, Azmatullah Omarzai and Glenn Maxwell comes in for Marcus Stoinis and Xavier Bartlett, whereas for KKR Rovman Powell and Chetan Sakariya replace Moeen Ali and Ramandeep Singh.

Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer said, "We are batting first. Since we are playing on the same wicket they played on. Can see a few cracks, will get an idea on how its playing. It's always been great to play in front of this crowd. Another day to come here and embrace. We have been getting brilliant starts. We are talking about a few situations, need to play to our best ability and believe in ourselves. I want the bowlers to take wickets, it changes the momentum."

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane said, "It's all about playing good cricket, need to chase down whatever the target is. Our bowling has been bowling really well. They have improved a lot. The boys have disappointed with the bat, but need to be brave in this format. Our batting unit needs to do well in this game. We have been playing good cricket in patches. It's all about living in the moment and be positive."

Playing XIs:

Punjab Kings: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shreyas Iyer(c), Josh Inglis(w), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

Impact Substitutes: Harpreet Brar, Musheer Khan, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Suryansh Shedge, Praveen Dubey

Kolkata Knight Riders: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Rovman Powell, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy

Impact Substitutes: Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Anrich Nortje, Luvnith Sisodia, Anukul Roy

--IANS

hs/