Why is Blessing Muzarabani not playing for KKR vs LSG at Eden Gardens in IPL 2026?
Kolkata Knight Riders have dropped Blessing Muzarabani from the playing XI against Lucknow Super Giants at the Eden Gardens. Sunil Narine replaced the Zimbabwe international in the playing XI. Meanwhile, his absence confirms that Cameron Green is set to bowl in the match.
Kolkata Knight Riders have dropped Blessing Muzarabani from their clash against Lucknow Super Giants at the Eden Gardens. The Zimbabwe international clinched a four-wicket haul in the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad and was expected to get a longer rope in the playing XI. However, he was dropped from the match against Lucknow, with veteran all-rounder Sunil Narine replacing him.
Blessing’s absence also confirms that Cameron Green is set to bowl. Cricket Australia had earlier restricted the all-rounder to bowl in the IPL for the first three games. That deadline has now passed and with that, Green could very well bowl in the middle overs. With Varun Chakaravarthy missing, he could be Ajinkya Rahane’s go-to option alongside Narine. However, Rahane has kept it a mystery so far regarding Green’s bowling.
“When he (Green) is allowed to bowl,we will probably see him, the combination gets better, so Rovman Powell plays, when Cam Green bowls then we have that extra bowler with us,” Green said.
Lucknow opt to bowl first
Lucknow have opted to bowl first against KKR. They have made no changes to the playing XI, as the team continues with Manimaran Siddharth on a surface that is very dry and could help the spinners along the way. Thus, KKR will certainly miss the service of Varun in the match.
Lucknow, in the meantime, came on the back of a win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the last match. The hosts, on the othe rhand, have lost two matches on the trot, while their third clash against Punjab was called off due to rain.
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane (c), Finn Allen, Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Navdeep Saini, Kartik Tyagi
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant (wk/c), Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, Manimaran Siddharth, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Shami, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Prince Yadav
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