Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings, IPL 2026, Kolkata: Ajinkya Rahane-led KKR would look to turn things around when they take on Punjab Kings in the 12th match of the Indian Premier League set to be played at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on Monday, April 6, 2026. Kolkata, having lost the first two matches of the season, will be feeling the pressure, and while they have problems of plenty, with Varun Chakaravarthy looking a shadow of his past, and Cameron Green, picked as an all-rounder, Only available as a batting option due to an injury, the likes of Finn Allen, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinki Singh and Sunil Narine would be confident of a win against a strong Punjab line-up.
Punjab, on the other hand, have won two out of two and would be looking to carry on the winning momentum and reach the top of the points table. They are currently fourth in the points table, below Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Rajasthan Royals, and Delhi Capitals due to a lower net run-rate, despite having won as many matches as the top three teams.
Pitch Report: KKR vs PBKS, IPL 2026, Kolkata
The pitch is expected to be batting-friendly, and the team winning the toss will be looking to chase. The previous game saw Sunrisers Hyderabad post a mammoth total of 226, and while KKR got off to a great start and were in the game in the first 10 overs, a batting collapse after the 11th over saw the hosts fall significantly short of the target. While the pitch was a bit two-paced in the first game of the season, the batters are still expected to score heavily on that wicket.
FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES: KKR vs PBKS IPL 2026
Head-to-Head: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings
Kolkata have had the upper hand against Punjab, having won 21 and lost 13, which includes 9 wins out of 14 played at the venue.
KKR Probable XII:
Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane (C), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (WK), Cameron Green, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Manish Pandey, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Blessing Muzarabani, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi.
PBKS Probable XII:
Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (C), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yuzvendra Chahal, Priyansh Arya.
Kolkata Knight Riders Squad: Ajinkya Rahane(c), Finn Allen, Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi(w), Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Blessing Muzarabani, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Kartik Tyagi, Saurabh Dubey, Tejasvi Dahiya, Navdeep Saini, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Seifert, Sarthak Ranjan, Prashant Solanki, Rahul Tripathi, Umran. Malik, Daksh Kamra
Punjab Kings Squad: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer(c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar, Praveen Dubey, Vishnu Vinod, Suryansh Shedge, Yash Thakur, Azmatullah Omarzai, Ben Dwarshuis, Lockie Ferguson, Mitchell Owen, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash, Vishal Nishad
