Kolkata Knight Riders are likely to make a change or two to their playing XI as they face a formidable Punjab Kings. Rahane and co. will be gearing up for a high-scoring encounter in Mullanpur. Fresh off a 8-wicket mammoth win against CSK in their previous game, KKR will be eyeing to keep the winning momentum going.
KKR predicted XI vs PBKS
| Position | Player | Role |
| 1. | Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK) | Batter |
| 2. | Sunil Narine | All-rounder |
| 3. | Ajinkya Rahane (C) | Batter |
| 4. | Angkrish Raghuvanshi | Batter |
| 5. | Venkatesh Iyer | All-rounder |
| 6. | Rinku Singh | Batter |
| 7. | Andre Russell | All-rounder |
| 8. | Ramandeep Singh | Batter |
| 9. | Harshit Rana | Bowler |
| 10. | Spencer Johnson / Anrich Nortje | Bowler |
| 11. | Varun Chakravarthy | Bowler |
Will KKR drop de Kock?
Ever since his 97-run knock in KKR’s second game of IPL 2025, de Kock has made very little impact at the top. Even in the previous game against CSK, it was Narine who led the charge with a 44-run knock while the Proteas batter only managed to score 23 before he was sent packing.
KKR may be tempted to play Rahmanullah Gurbaz in place of de Kock against PBKS. The Afghanistan keeper-batter, who is a like-for-like replacement for de Kock in the playing XI, has not featured in any game so far in this season.
Moeen Ali to be benched?
KKR may consider adding another pacer to their playing XI by benching Moeen Ali. There will be a toss up between Spencer Jonshon and Anrich Nortje. However, there is no clarity on the latter’s availability for the tie against PBKS. The South African was reportedly recovering from an injury and hasn’t featured in a single game for KKR yet.
Vaibhav Arora could be the impact player and will replace Angkrish Raghuvanshi in the XI.
KKR squad for IPL 2025
Quinton de Kock(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Anukul Roy, Luvnith Sisodia, Rovman Powell, Anrich Nortje, Mayank Markande, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Chetan Sakariya, Spencer Johnson
