IPL 2026: Shimron Hetmyer returns as RR opt to bat first against KKR at Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to bat first against Kolkata Knight Riders in their IPL 2026 clash, setting the stage for an intriguing contest at Eden Gardens.

RR skipper Riyan Parag backed his decision citing the dry nature of the surface, which he expects could assist spin as the game progresses.

''We're batting first. Looks like a pretty dry wicket; the grass was cut yesterday. It could turn in the first innings and remain the same later on. Let's set the tone at the start: our focus is on doing better, last match was a learning phase, we need to take it into the games. Hetmyer and Brijesh are back, they replace Pretorious and Tushar Deshpande,'' Parag said at the toss.

Rahane: ‘Happy to Lose the Toss’

KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane revealed that his side would have preferred to bat first as well but remained unfazed after losing the toss.

''We wanted to bat first. In this situation, we want our batters to be free from any pressure. The bowlers have started to perform well, and I'm happy to lose the toss. We live in the past, we can't say about the future, just focus on the controllables. The preparation has been fantastic and the preparations have been good. Just go out there and do well. Same team,'' Rahane said.

Playing XIs

Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Tim Seifert (wk), Cameron Green, Rovman Powell, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi, Varun Chakravarthy

Impact Subs: Manish Pandey, Finn Allen, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Tejasvi Singh, Navdeep Saini

Rajasthan Royals: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi

Impact Subs: Sandeep Sharma, Shubham Dubey, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Ravi Singh, Yash Punja