For Kolkata Knight Riders, Thursday's match against Royal Challengers Bangalore was a special one as it's the two-time champions' first home match of the IPL 2023. They lost their first game of the season against Punjab Kings and are looking to make a comeback. They had a special person cheering them from the Eden Gardens stand on Thursday. KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan cheered his team from the stands and the fans went crazy. SRK, who recently starred in the hit movie Pathaan, is very passionate about his team.
Meanwhile, Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Faf du Plessis won the toss against Kolkata Knight Riders and opted to field first in the 9th match of IPL 2023 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday. Kolkata skipper Nitish Rana will look for their first win in the tournament at the home venue whereas RCB is coming with a win against Mumbai Indian (MI) by 8 wickets. KKR is coming to the match after a seven-run loss to Punjab Kings in their opening match.
For Kolkata, spinner Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy would be the key players. While RCB has to in-form batters Virat Kohli and skipper Faf du Plessis in their side. Kolkata has replaced Suyash Sharma and included Anukul Roy on their side. Bangalore added David Willey in the place of injured Reece Topley.
Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Nitish Rana said at the toss, "Was looking to bowl as well because of the dew factor. Anukul is replaced by Suyash."
Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Faf du Plessis also said at the toss, "Going to have a bowl. Bit of a misunderstanding with the accent there (confusion at the toss). Was dew last night Hoping it will get skiddy in the second innings. That's a long way away. Today is a completely new game. Really motivated to put in a good performance. Forced change with Reece Topley being injured. Willey comes in."
With ANI inputs