Kolkata Knight Riders have won the toss and elected to bowl first against Chennai Super Kings at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in IPL 2026.
KKR have made an important change as Varun Chakravarthy returns to the playing XI after missing the last two matches due to a finger injury. He replaces Navdeep Saini in the side.
CSK, on the other hand, have decided to go unchanged after their brilliant performance in the previous match against Delhi Capitals.
Chennai Super Kings: Sanju Samson (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Ayush Mhatre, Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Dewald Brevis, Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Khaleel Ahmed
Impact Subs: Matthew Short, Akeal Hosein, Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer, Matt Henry
Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Rovman Powell, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi
Impact subs - Finn Allen, Manish Pandey, Tejasvi Dahiya, Tim Seifert, Navdeep Saini
CSK vs KKR: Captains take at the toss
KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane spoke about the mindset heading into this clash, especially after a tough defeat in the previous game against Lucknow Super Giants. He emphasised the need to reset and stay positive in the format.
“It’s all about starting fresh. It’s important when things are not going your way, to have that belief, stay positive. In T20 cricket, those small moments really matter.”
On the other hand, CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad highlighted that his side is slowly finding the right balance after their recent win. He pointed out the contributions from key players and the improving team combination.
“I think we are slowly getting it right. You know, Brevis coming back and Jamie giving those crucial overs in between. So I think we are slowly getting the right combination.”
