Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were forced into a key change for their IPL 2026 clash against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) as mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy missed out. The high-stakes encounter, Match 15 of the season, is being played at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata, with KKR still searching for their first win of the campaign.

KKR’s struggles continue amid crucial team changes

Led by Ajinkya Rahane, KKR entered the contest under pressure after a disappointing start to IPL 2026. The franchise has endured a tough run so far, losing their opening two matches, while their third fixture was washed out due to rain. With just one point on the table, this game against LSG holds significant importance for their momentum moving forward.

At the toss, LSG skipper Rishabh Pant opted to field first, looking to capitalize on any early assistance from the surface. While Lucknow Super Giants retained the same playing XI, KKR made a notable tweak by bringing back Sunil Narine into the side.

Why Varun Chakravarthy is not playing today’s match?

The reason behind Chakravarthy’s exclusion was clarified by Rahane during the toss. The KKR captain revealed that the spinner is still recovering from a hand injury sustained earlier in the tournament. According to Rahane, Chakravarthy picked up the injury while attempting a catch during KKR’s match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 2. Although the spinner resumed light bowling during training sessions ahead of this fixture, he has not yet fully recovered.

Rahane stated that Chakravarthy continues to have heavy taping on his hand and has not received medical clearance to participate in a competitive match. The team management, therefore, decided not to risk aggravating the injury at this stage of the tournament.

“Just one change – Sunil comes in place of Blessing, Varun is still recovering from his hand injury,” Rahane confirmed at the toss.

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Playing XIs of both teams

Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing 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 (Playing XI): 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 rolls out fresh field restrictions for non-playing members during matches

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