Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], May 20 (ANI): Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have won the toss and decided to field against the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 65th match of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season on Wednesday evening.
The high-voltage clash between the three-time champions KKR and five-time winners MI is being held at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane said his side is focused on winning both remaining matches and staying in the present. The KKR skipper acknowledged missed opportunities earlier in the tournament, adding that the team must now focus on consistent performance across both innings.
“We are looking to bowl first. It is as simple as that. We want to focus on that, we have to win two out of two, and we want to stay in the moment. In the first half of the tournament, there were moments when we had capitalised; things would have been different. It is frankly tough to read the wicket; we need to play good cricket throughout 40 overs. We are going with the same team,” Rahane said during the toss.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya said his side would have preferred to bowl first as well, noting that the surface looked like it had been under covers, while stressing the importance of finishing the season on a strong note.
Reflecting on MI’s campaign and approach, he added that the focus remains on pride and performance in the remaining games.
“We would have bowled first as well. Looks like a track which has been under the covers. Just wanted to see how exactly it plays out. (Playing for pride) Absolutely. Every game you play, you want to win. You want to play your best cricket, put the best foot forward. At the same point of time, the Mumbai Indians have a long history of winning titles. So just want to make sure that we keep our heads high and make sure that we represent the Mumbai Indians in the best capacity,” MI skipper Hardik said.
Teams:
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wicketkeeper), Cameron Green, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Kartik Tyagi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Saurabh Dubey
Kolkata Knight Riders (Impact Players): Finn Allen, Vaibhav Arora, Ramandeep Singh, Tejasvi Dahiya, Rahul Tripathi.
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Ryan Rickelton (wicketkeeper), Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (captain), Will Jacks, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Raghu Sharma
Mumbai Indians (Impact Players): Shardul Thakur, Mayank Rawat, Robin Minz, Krish Bhagat, AM Ghazanfar. (ANI)
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