Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be up against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the 44th match of IPL 2025 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. This article provides details about the KKR Playing 11 vs the Punjab Kings for match 44 of IPL 2025.
KKR Playing 11 vs Punjab Kings- IPL 2025, Match 44:
Openers: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sunil Narine
Rahmanullah Gurbaz will open the batting for KKR along with Sunil Narine. The wicketkeeper batter would look to make the most of only his second opportunity, which he is expected to get in IPL 2025.
Sunil Narine, who will partner Gurbaz at the top of the order, will look to do the same as the left-hander has also been short of runs in the tournament so far.
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Middle-order: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh
Ajinkya Rahane, the KKR captain, would like to play with a bit more intent as compared to how he played in the last game against GT, which the defending champions lost by a decent margin as they were unable to chase a target of 199 runs on a good batting wicket at the Eden Gardens.
Ajinkya Rahane will need good support from an experienced player like Venkatesh Iyer, who was criticised for his inability to hit boundaries in the middle overs against GT. The left-hander would like to rectify that mistake in the upcoming game against PBKS on Saturday.
The likes of Rinku Singh, who played a good innings in a close loss against LSG at the Eden Gardens, along with Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Andre Russell, will look to get the team over the line and would hope to get a decent amount of balls to face to get themselves set.
Bowlers: Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Anrich Nortje, Varun Chakravarthy
Despite a disappointing show with the bat, KKR would be happy with the way the bowlers performed against GT, as the bowling department was able to restrict the opposition to a chaseable score of 198 runs after a good start in the powerplay and in the middle overs.
As far as Kolkata Knight Riders‘ spin bowling department is concerned, it has been taken care of by Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine, both of whom bowled economically, along with picking up wickets or the defending champions in the middle overs.
The duo of Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora has been effective with the new ball and has picked up wickets in the first six overs and in the final five overs, as well, which has helped Kolkata Knight Riders in restricting the opposition to a below-par total.
Anrich Nortje, who got a chance in the game against PBKS earlier in the tournament, would like to replicate the performance he delivered in that particular game and help Kolkata Knight Riders clinch two valuable points.
