New Delhi: In search of first win of IPL 2026 season, Kolkata Knight Riders opt to bat first Shreyas IyerPunjab Kings (PBKS) on Monday.Captain KKR Ajinkya Lahani The toss was won and it was decided to bat first at Eden Gardens.KKR made two changes to the starting XI with neither of their two mystery spinners Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy making the team. “We’re going to bat first. It looked like a good wicket, a little bit dry, but it’s a very good wicket with a little less grass cover. It’s all about having that belief and confidence. It’s about winning those little moments. We’re confident. Two changes, forced. Varun Chakaravarthy got injured while taking a catch in the last game and Narine is out of the game. Both Powell and Saini were in it,” Rahane said during the toss.Meanwhile, PBKS also traveled with the same team.“I was supposed to bowl too. I’m happy with the decision he took. Our (Shreyas and Ponting’s) chemistry has flourished since our days at Delhi Capitals. He gives freedom to all the youngsters and is an inspirational person himself. It’s the same team for us,” said PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer. teamKings XI Punjab (Starting XI): Prabhsimran Singh (w), Shreyas Iyer (c), Cooper Connolly, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.Kolkata Knight Riders (XI): Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane (centre), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (w), Rovman Powell, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Navdeep Saini, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi.List of affected submarinesKings XI Punjab substitutes: Priyansh Arya, Suryansh Shedge, Vishnu Vinod, Pravin Dubey, Harpreet BrarKolkata Knight Riders impact substitutes: Blessing Muzarabani, Manish Pandey, Tejasvi Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Saurabh Dubey
