IPL 2025: Pandey replaces injured Iyer as KKR elect to bat first against CSK, Urvil handed debut

Kolkata, May 7 (IANS) Veteran batter Manish Pandey has come in for an injured Venkatesh Iyer as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won the toss and elected to bat first against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in match 57 of IPL 2025 at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.

For defending champions KKR, it’s a do-or-die encounter as a victory over an already eliminated CSK will keep their play-offs hopes alive. After winning the toss, KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane said Iyer misses out because he has stitches on his hand, thus paving the way for Pandey to come into the playing eleven.

“Looks a good wicket. Last two games we batted first and did really well. We want to put runs on the board and defend it. What's important is taking one game at a time. Not thinking much about the future. Lots of learnings from the previous match, guys are looking forward to this game. You are bound to lose close games, but you need to be confident. If there's a chance, we will try to give our best,” he said.

CSK captain MS Dhoni said Devon Conway and Urvil Patel come into the playing eleven and replace Sam Curran and Shaik Rasheed respectively. Patel, the wicketkeeper-batter, was drafted into CSK squad as a replacement for injured Vansh Bedi.

He got into limelight by hitting the joint-fastest T20 century by an Indian batter — a blistering 28-ball hundred coming for Gujarat against Tripura in last year’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT). Urvil will open CSK’s innings alongside exciting teenage batter Ayush Mhatre.

“I have played a lot of cricket here while growing up, like a home ground for the amount of cricket I have played here. When it was Zonal trophy, a few office leagues, overall I have played a lot of cricket here and nearby. What's important is to get answers for the next year and what hasn't gone well for us in the tournament.”

“We are trying to get those answers, our middle order batting and bowling solutions. We are giving chances to players, but we want a good playing XI or XII. You can try such things towards the end and what players will slot in. They have two quality spinners, so it will be a challenge,” he said.

After the toss, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said the national anthem will be played in the Eden Gardens before the start of this match.

Playing XIs

Kolkata Knight Riders: Sunil Narine, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Moeen Ali, Vaibhav Arora, and Varun Chakravarthy

Impact Substitutes: Anrich Nortje, Mayank Markande, Harshit Rana, Anukul Roy, and Luvnith Sisodia

Chennai Super Kings: Ayush Mhatre, Urvil Patel, Devon Conway, Ravindra Jadeja, Dewald Brevis, R Ashwin, MS Dhoni (captain & wk), Anshul Kamboj, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, and Matheesha Pathirana

Impact Substitutes: Shivam Dube, Deepak Hooda, Jamie Overton, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, and Ramakrishna Ghosh

--IANS

nr/