Varun Chakravarthy is not playing the match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) because he is still recovering from a finger injury on his left hand. Chakravarthy injured the little finger of his left hand while attempting a catch during the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on 2nd April.

While he practiced and bowled his full set of overs in training on Wednesday, he arrived at the ground with heavy taping and has not yet been cleared to play by the medical team.KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane confirmed at the toss that Chakravarthy is still recovering and would miss the fixture. KKR’s spin department is being led by the returning Sunil Narine, who replaced Blessing Muzarabani in the XI after recovering from his own illness. Anukul Roy is the other specialist spinner in the lineup.

KKR's medical team is working closely with him, but he has not yet been given the all-clear for match intensity. News reports also highlight that Chakravarthy was struggling for form before the injury, going wicketless in his first two matches with an economy rate over 13.

Will KKR be able to secure their first win of IPL 2026 today?

The match between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) has just begun at the Eden Gardens. After one over, KKR are 6/0, as of writing.LSG captain Rishabh Pant won the toss and elected to bowl first.Mohammed Shami opened the attack for LSG, conceding 6 runs in the first over.

Sunil Narine returns to the XI, replacing Blessing Muzarabani. The LSG are playing an unchanged XI from their previous win against SRH.

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KKR captain Rahane confirmed that Cameron Green is now fit to bowl, providing KKR with an extra bowling option tonight. KKR openers Ajinkya Rahane and Finn Allen survived a testing opening over from Mohammed Shami, who found significant swing but conceded a boundary off the final ball to Rahane.