KL Rahul and Eoin Morgan
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and elect to bowl first against Punjab Kings on Monday at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Bottom-placed KKR, eyeing their second victory of the season, went with an unchanged line-up as Morgan said that the team is hopeful to 'turn it around' and end four-match losing streak.
"We're going to bowl first. Excellent ground and good outfield, seems a good surface. We're going with the same team. We're looking to make a big step forward today. We believe in the guys within the squad and the playing XI.
"Moving forward, we'll see a lot more depth from our squad. I think there is only way to go (from here). Getting on a losing streak can hurt a bit. We have the opportunity to turn it around and we know it can change quickly," said the KKR skipper.
The Punjab outfit, headed by KL Rahul, comes into this game after defeating Mumbai Indians in their last game before suffering a hat-trick of defeats. Kolkata Knight Riders have also endured a mediocre start so far, having lost four games on the trot after winning their opening fixture against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Punjab introduced one change as they brought in Chris Jordan instead of Fabian Allen. "It's a new venue and new pitch, important we get off to a good start. That (crowd) would have been lovely but it's important that our country fights back from this.
"Games like that (win over MI) helps us a lot, difficult wicket to chase and glad that me and Chris could finish it off. Such wins bring the group together. He (Gayle) keeps things light in the dressing room," said Rahul.
This is the first match in Ahmedabad after the initial 20 matches of the ongoing season were played in Mumbai and Chennai. The surface was also used for the recent India-England T20I series, where India registered a 3-2 victory over the visitors.
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): KL Rahul(w/c), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Moises Henriques, Shahrukh Khan, Chris Jordan, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh
