Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings players paid homage to the Indian armed forces ahead of the blockbuster clash at the iconic Eden Gardens.

The teams, along with the umpires, sang the national anthem to honour the military that planned and executed air strikes on Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir on May 7. Notably, it was in retaliation for the heinous killings of 25 Indians and one Nepalese in Pehalgam last month.

'Proud of the Indian armed forces' was displayed on the background as the players sang the national anthem. The official account of the Indian Premier League shared the photo on their social media.

KKR bat first against CSK at Eden

Kolkata won the toss and elected to bat first against CSK. Traditionally, both teams prefer to chase, but KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane explained that the team has done well batting first in the last couple of games, and they are planning to back it against CSK. Meanwhile, Rahane also announced that Venkatesh Iyer will be missing the game due to stitches on his hands. Manish Pandey replaced him in the playing XI.

"We will bat first. Looks a good wicket. Last two games we batted first and did really well.

We want to put runs on the board and defend it. What's important is taking one game at a time. Not thinking much about the future. Lots of learnings from the previous match, guys are looking forward to this game. You are bound to lose close games, but you need to be confident. If there's a chance, we will try to give our best. Venkatesh Iyer misses out, Manish Pandey comes in," Rahane said after winning the toss.

CSK captain Dhoni, however, wasn't decided as well. He mentioned focusing on building the team for the future after being ruled out of the playoffs race.

"What's important is to get answers for the next year. What hasn't gone well for us in the tournament. Trying to get those answers, our middle order batting and bowling solutions. We are giving chances to players, but we want a good playing XI or XII," Dhoni said."What's important is to get answers for the next year. What hasn't gone well for us in the tournament. Trying to get those answers, our middle order batting and bowling solutions. We are giving chances to players, but we want a good playing XI or XII," Dhoni said.