Winless Kolkata Knight Riders have shuffled their top order again, bench-ing Finn Allen and handing the gloves to fellow New Zealander Tim Seifert. Ajinkya Rahane called correctly at the toss in Ahmedabad and, without much hesitation, chose to set a total.
“Batting first should help the boys play with freedom,” the skipper told the host broadcaster, hinting that an empty scoreboard might ease a line-up that has yet to click in IPL 2026. With Seifert opening alongside Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi is expected to focus solely on his batting; Varun Chakravarthy remains the obvious Impact option once KKR turn to spin.
Shubman Gill, whose Titans come off a solid win against Lucknow, said he would have bowled regardless. “Dew hasn’t done much so far, but temperatures are going up and it could be a factor tonight,” he noted. Gill’s XI is unchanged, leaving M Shahrukh Khan on the bench again, almost certainly earmarked as their finishing Impact batter.
Teams
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (capt), B Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Ashok Sharma, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj. Impact: Jason Holder, M Shahrukh Khan, Manav Suthar, Kulwant Khejroliya, Anuj Rawat.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Tim Seifert (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Cameron Green, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Rovman Powell, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi. Impact: Varun Chakravarthy, Manish Pandey, Finn Allen, Tejasvi Dahiya, Navdeep Saini.
Key angles
• KKR are searching for their first points after four defeats, and Allen’s absence suggests they want a steadier start rather than raw power.
• Titans have kept faith with a balanced XI: three frontline quicks, Rashid’s leg-spin and enough middle-order muscle to chase.
• Evening dew has been mild at Motera so far, yet both captains spoke about it. With temperatures nudging 40 °C earlier in the day, moisture could arrive late and make bowling second trickier.
A fresh face at the top and a proactive call at the toss—small moves, but KKR need something to break a worrying pattern.
