Last season 2025 did not end well for KKR. The team finished eighth after losing its last two matches. After this, the team made a big change for IPL 2026, but its effect has not been visible on the field yet. KKR has also started this season with two consecutive defeats. Bowling remains their biggest concern, as the team has conceded more than 220 runs in both the matches. Spinner Varun Chakraborty also did not look in his rhythm.

KKR has lost both the matches
On the other hand, the journey of Punjab Kings has been completely opposite. The team playing the final in 2025 has maintained the same rhythm this time also. The team retained its 21 players and has started IPL 2026 with two consecutive wins. His batting looks strong especially in the top order. Australian player Cooper Connolly fitted in well at number 3.

Shreyas will play against his old team
There is also an interesting story in this match – Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer will play against his former team KKR, whom he had won the title with two seasons ago. There are a lot of expectations from Cameron Green in KKR’s batting, but he has been a flop so far. He scored 18 runs in the first match and was run out in the second. Whereas Punjab Kings bowler Vijay Kumar Vaishak is performing brilliantly. He has taken 5 wickets in two matches, three of which have come in the death overs.

Talking about the team combination, KKR can make some changes while Punjab Kings would like to maintain the winning formula.

What will be the nature of the pitch?
Talking about the pitch, Eden Gardens has been helpful for the batsmen. 226 runs were scored in the match played here this season. Since 2023, this ground is among the fastest run scoring grounds. In such a situation, a high scoring match is expected.

Kolkata Knight Riders (Probable-12): 1 Ajinkya Rahane (captain), 2 Finn Allen, 3 Cameron Green, 4 Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wicket-keeper), 5 Manish Pandey/Ramandeep Singh, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Anukul Roy, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Vaibhav Arora/Navdeep Saini/Umran Malik, 10 Varun Chakraborty, 11 Blessing Muzarabani, 12 Karthik Tyagi.

Punjab Kings (Probable-12): 1 Prabhsimran Singh (wicket-keeper), 2 Priyansh Arya, 3 Cooper Connolly, 4 Shreyas Iyer (captain), 5 Nehal Wadhera, 6 Shashank Singh, 7 Marcus Stoinis, 8 Marco Jensen, 9 Xavier Bartlett, 10 Vijaykumar Vaishakh, 11 Arshdeep Singh, 12 Yuzvendra Chahal.