IPL 2025: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings – Match Preview

The defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will take on Punjab Kings in the 44th match of the ongoing IPL 2025 at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Saturday. KKR are struggling with the bat despite having all the depth in their batting unit as their hard-hitters like Andre Russell, Rinku Singh and Ramandeep Singh have failed to add the finishing touches.

Ajinkya Rahane’s team could not put up a fight in the previous game against Gujarat Titans, suffering a 39-run loss. Moreover, the bowling unit also lacked teeth in the last game, conceding 198 runs.

On the other hand, Punjab Kings suffered a seven-wicket loss against RCB while playing at home after they could only manage 157 runs on the board. Ergo, they also need to come up with an improved batting show. PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer got off to a great start in the season but he has veered off the track in the last few games. 

PBKS openers – Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya – have given quick starts to the team but they would want to convert them into big scores.

Head to Head: KKR 21 – 13 PBKS.

PBKS Probable XII: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Josh Inglis (wk)/Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Shashank Singh, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak/Yash Thakur

KKR Probable XII: Sunil Narine, Quinton de Kock(wk), Ajinkya Rahane(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Anrich Nortje, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy.

Kolkata Knight Riders Squad: Quinton de Kock(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Anrich Nortje, Varun Chakaravarthy, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Luvnith Sisodia, Chetan Sakariya, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Spencer Johnson, Mayank Markande, Anukul Roy, Rovman Powell, Moeen Ali, Manish Pandey

Punjab Kings Squad: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Nehal Wadhera, Josh Inglis, Shashank Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Suryansh Shedge, Yash Thakur, Harpreet Brar, Praveen Dubey, Pyla Avinash, Musheer Khan, Harnoor Singh, Kuldeep Sen, Azmatullah Omarzai, Aaron Hardie, Vishnu Vinod, Marcus Stoinis