Out of form and short on ideas, Kolkata Knight Riders are set to consider sweeping changes as they hunt for their first win of the IPL 2026 season against a confident Lucknow Super Giants at Eden Gardens on Thursday.
Much of the spotlight will be on Mohammed Shami, who is coming off a brilliant 2/9 spell against Sunrisers Hyderabad, dismissing Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, the same pair that had troubled KKR earlier. With helpful conditions expected, Shami’s seam movement could once again expose KKR’s fragile top order.
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KKR were rattled early in their previous outing as well, slipping to 16/2 before rain forced a washout against Punjab Kings. Weather could remain a factor earlier in the day, though the late start is now expected to ensure a full match.
KKR vs LSG: Who’s ahead till now?
The two teams have faced each other six times in the IPL. The Lucknow Super Giants have had an upper hand over KKR, winning four out of the six matches, while KKR has struggled against the Rishabh Pant-led side, managing only two wins.
How will the Eden pitch play out?
The match is likely to be played on the same surface used for the PBKS-KKR clash. In recent times, tracks at Eden Gardens have largely favoured batters, and that trend is unlikely to change.
Conditions were overcast on the eve of the game, and while rain is expected earlier in the day, it is unlikely to impact the match hours. Cloud cover could still assist seamers early on.
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Predicted playing XIs
Kolkata Knight Riders' predicted XI will most likely consist of Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Navdeep Saini, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi.
Blessing Muzarabani will be the preferred impact substitute.
Lucknow Super Giants predicted XI will likely include Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant (wk, capt), Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, M Siddharth, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Shami, Digvesh Rathi.
Prince Yadav is the impact player.
Will the weather allow a full match?
There is a yellow alert for thunderstorms in the morning, with periods of rain expected early in the day and considerable cloud cover throughout. The maximum temperature is likely to be around 33C.
The good news is that skies are expected to clear by evening, with the temperature dropping to around 23C. Rain is forecast only until around noon, with the probability of precipitation falling from 49% at 12 PM to 0% by the time of the toss at 7 PM. As of now, no rain is expected during match hours, making a full game highly likely.
