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In the IPL 2026 match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Gujarat Titans` (GT) skipper Shubman Gill has won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
After winning the toss, GT`s skipper Gill said, “We`re gonna bowl first. Yeah, it does look like that (pitch having moisture), there was a little bit of rain around yesterday and it looks a little bit sticky, we are hoping that it`s going to get better in the second innings. (On GT`s bowlers dominating and winning five on the trot) Yeah, definitely, we believe that, batsmen do win you matches, but if you want to win championships, your bowling unit has to be in form and luckily for us, they are firing all cylinders”.
“Our bowling unit has been top-notch this season. The momentum is with us and we have to keep doing the things consistently that we have been doing well. This is not the stage, this is not the time to take any teams lightly, but we`re hoping to win the next two and hopefully be stable in the top two positions. It gives the edge to the teams that finish in the top two. You get one extra match. Hopefully, we won`t play the extra match, but it does give you an edge, you can go out there and play your game. We`re going with the same team,” he added.
On the other hand, the Knight Riders have made just one change to their playing XI for the match. Mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy has come in place of Vaibhav Arora.
KKR`s captain Ajinkya Rahane said, “Taking one game at a time, but as you rightly mentioned, we have to win three games and then see what happens. It`s important as a team that we`ve been playing really good cricket, won four games out of five, the combination and also guys are actually clicking together. We just have to keep it really simple, focus on this game, and then take it forward. Absolutely (we have to be consistent), all the parts. As I said, we`ve been playing really good cricket, those five games, the guys are taking very good confidence, the positives from the last game. It`s just very simple for us now. It`s one game at a time, win this, and looking up for the next two games. We were looking to field as well”.
“(On the surface) There`s a little bit of moisture, there`s rain last night, heavy rain, so I don`t think it will change that much, considering there is breeze going on. I`m not too sure about the dew factor as well, but whatever it is, we want to give our best in our bat, and then when we defend the total, give best in those 20 overs. Varun comes in, Varun is fit,” added the 37-year-old cricketer.
IPL 2026, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Gujarat Titans: Confirmed Playing XIs
Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Finn Allen, Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (WK), Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakaravarthy, Saurabh Dubey, Kartik Tyagi.
Gujarat Titans: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (C), Jos Buttler (WK), Jason Holder, Washington Sundar, Nishant Sindhu, Rashid Khan, Arshad Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj.
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