Sri Lanka pacer Matheesha Pathirana is yet to join the Kolkata Knight Riders squad and for the same reason, he is out of the contest against Chennai Super Kings on April 14. He has been handed the No Objection Certificate (NOC) by Sri Lanka Cricket, but the 23-year-old will arrive in India only on April 17 and is likely to feature in KKR’s clash against Gujarat Titans on 19th.
In his absence, Blessing Muzarabani was expected to feature in the playing XI, especially after the four-wicket haul against Sunrisers Hyderabad, but the three-time champions are backing the local pacers. Meanwhile, Varun Chakaravarthy has finally returned to the squad after a two-match break, as the star spinner replaced Navdeep Saini in the playing XI.
KKR win toss, elect to bowl
Kolkata have won the toss and Ajinkya Rahane has opted to bowl first at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. CSK captain, on the other hand, confirmed that the team has made no changes to the playing XI, which means MS Dhoni is yet to gain full fitness. The five-time winning captain has been participating in training sessions regularly, but is yet to be match-ready.
KKR, in the meantime, have kept both Finn Allen and Tim Seifert in the Impact Player list, as they are playing with three overseas players. Now, Allen has been their first-choice player, but the New Zealand international has failed to live up to the potential. Thus, it won’t be surprising if they try Tim Seifert at the top of the order against CSK.
Teams:
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane (c), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Rovman Powell, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Sanju Samson (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Ayush Mhatre, Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Dewald Brevis, Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Khaleel Ahmed
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