Mathisha PatilanaThe much-anticipated return will have to wait as Kolkata Knight Riders left the Sri Lankan pacer out of the squad for the crucial match against Lucknow Supergiants at the Ekana Stadium. Despite being available, KKR opted for continuity. team leader Ajinkya Lahani “We want to bat first. At the moment, it’s important to see how we perform as a team. The bowling team has cooperated well. The reason why we want to bat first is to give freedom to our batting team so that they can bat freely,” he said, adding that the break helped the team recalibrate. “This week’s rest is really important. We sit together and reflect on the last seven games and what we need to improve on.” Ritha Pant Winning the toss and choosing to pitch emphasizes the need for clarity in execution. “We want to put our opponents on the back foot first and figure it out as a batting group,” he said. Pant also confirmed one change, with the addition of George Linde. “We have a lot of leaders on this team. We’re about to find our way. We just have to stick together.” With both teams ranked at the bottom of the table, the decision to exclude Patialana adds another layer of intrigue to this must-win game.team:Kolkata Knight Riders (XI played): Ajinkya Rahane (c), Tim Seifert (w), Cameron GreenAngkrish Raghuvanshi, Rovman Powell, Rinku Singh, Sunil NarineRamandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik TyagiLucknow Super Giants (XI played): Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant (centre), Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Mukul Chaudhry, George Linde, Mohammed Shami, Prince Yadav, Digwish Singh Rati, Mohsin Khan.
