IPL 2026, KKR vs SRH Today Match: Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and elected to field against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Match 6 of the Indian Premier League 2026 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata , West Bengal on Thursday, April 2, 2026. Both teams are looking to register their first win of the season after losing their opening matches. KKR went down to Mumbai Indians by six wickets, while SRH suffered a similar defeat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
KKR have named an unchanged playing XI for the contest, while SRH have made one change, bringing in Shivang Kumar.
Rahane said the decision was influenced by the unusual grass cover on the surface and recent weather conditions.
“There is always room for improvement, but there were a lot of positives from the last game. We don’t generally see this much grass here. With rain around in the last couple of days, that’s the reason we are bowling first,” Rahane said.
He added that dew could play a role later in the evening, though a steady breeze might delay its impact. KKR have opted to go with an unchanged playing XI.
For SRH, captain Ishan Kishan said he would also have preferred to bowl but backed his side to adapt to conditions.
“I would have elected to bowl first, but batting first here comes down to reading the wicket well and executing our plans. We need to stay calm and focus on basics,” Kishan said.
Kishan also hinted that key all-rounder Pat Cummins is expected to return soon.
KKR vs SRH Playing XIs:
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan(w/c), Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, David Payne
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane(c), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi(w), Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi, Blessing Muzarabani
Impact Substitutes:
Sunrisers Hyderabad Impact Subs: Harshal Patel, Liam Livingstone, Eshan Malinga, R Smaran, Sakib Hussain
Kolkata Knight Riders Impact Subs: Finn Allen, Manish Pandey, Saurabh Dubey, Rovman Powell, Tejasvi Dahiya
Pitch Report
The surface at Eden Gardens is expected to favor batters overall, though there could be some early assistance for pace bowlers due to slight stickiness and grass presence. While a few dry patches are visible, they are unlikely to significantly affect play. The venue has historically produced high-scoring matches, with last season’s average first-innings total hovering around the 200-run mark.
