Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
In a one-off double-header Tuesday, the defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are taking on the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in match number 21 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. However, both teams are currently having a similar season, with both of them registering two wins in their four matches and are placed in the mid-table.
However, the Super Giants boost of a slightly upper hand over the Knight Riders in the five matches so far played between them in the cash-rich league, it will be good to see if the defending champions can come out good to equal the record today. For the unversed, KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and elected to bowl first.
Spencer Johnson comes in for Moeen Ali in KKR’s Playing XI vs LSG
Soon after winning the toss, when asked about the team combination for today’s match, Rahane confirmed one change in their lineup from the previous one. The veteran Indian batter confirmed that Spencer Johnson will replace Moeen Ali, however, he did not elaborated on the decision.
“We are going to bowl first. The wicket looks really good, it's not that hot. The wicket won't change much. One side boundary is small, that's why we are bowling first. Everyone is looking forward to this game. This game is all about starting fresh, need to take the positives, need to take one step at a time. People are going to talk about it, we know Quinny and Sunil are match-winners. We are not worried about them. Spencer comes in place of Moeen,” the KKR skipper said.
On the other hand, the Rishabh Pant-led LSG, who are coming after a 12-run win over Mumbai Indians, named an unchanged XI for the upcoming match.
KKR vs LSG IPL 2025 Playing XI
Kolkata Knight Riders: Quinton de Kock(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Vaibhav Arora, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy
Impact Subs: Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Anukul Roy, Rovman Powell, Luvnith Sisodia
Lucknow Super Giants: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Shardul Thakur, Akash Deep, Avesh Khan, Digvesh Singh Rathi
Impact Subs: Ravi Bishnoi, Prince Yadav, Shahbaz Ahamad, Matthew Breetzke, Himmat Singh
