Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) they were forced to make a fundamental change IPL 2026 collide against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) like a mystery spinner Varun Chakraborty was running. The 15th match of the season is being played at the famous Eden Gardens in Kolkata as KKR are still looking for their first win of the campaign.
KKR’s struggle continues amid significant team changes
led Ajinkya RahaneKKR entered the competition under pressure after a poor start to IPL 2026. The franchise has endured a tough run so far, losing their first two matches and their third match being washed out due to rain. Against LSG, who have just one point in the table, this game is crucial for their progress.
LSG captain during the firing Rishabh pants preferred the field first to take advantage of any early help from the surface. While Lucknow Super Giants kept the same playing XI, KKR made a noticeable adjustment by bringing back. Sunil Narine towards
Why is Varun Chakraborty not playing in today’s match?
Rahane clarified the reason for Chakravarthy’s exclusion during the toss. The KKR skipper revealed that the spinner is still recovering from the hand injury he sustained earlier in the tournament. According to Rahane, Chakraborty picked up the injury during KKR’s match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 2. Although the spinner has resumed light bowling during training ahead of this match, he is yet to fully recover.
Rahane said that Chakravarthy has severe tapes in his hands and has not received medical clearance to participate in the competitive match. The team management therefore decided not to risk aggravating the injury at this stage of the tournament.
“Just one change – Sunil Blessing comes in, Varun still recovering from hand injury” Rahane confirmed during the toss.
11th place for both teams
Kolkata Knight Riders (Game 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 (XI game): Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, Manimaran Siddharth, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Shami, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Prince Yadav
Also READ: IPL 2026: BCCI introduces new fielding restrictions for non-playing members during matches
