Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul has won the toss and elected to bowl first against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Eliminator of IPL 2022 at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
Rain and strong winds meant that the toss happened at 7:55pm, with the first ball to be played at 8:10pm.
After winning the toss, Rahul said pace all-rounder Dushmantha Chameera and off-spin all-rounder Krunal Pandya come into the playing eleven in place of Jason Holder and K Gowtham. It was an interesting decision at the toss by Rahul as Lucknow have won just twice out of six times while chasing in the tournament.
"Simple reason, looks like a good wicket, we want to know what we are chasing. Hopefully we will get some swing and take few early wickets. We were not able to utilize Jason who was batting at no. 8. It is always good if the top three set up the game for your team. Hooda has playing well, and the other guys are looking forward to do well," stated Rahul.
Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis said pacer Mohammed Siraj comes into the playing eleven in place of Siddarth Kaul while admitting that he wasn't sure on what to do if he had won the toss.
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"It's a used wicket (Qualifier 1 pitch), but it looks a decent batting wicket. This ground is pretty small, so you can catch up towards the end," observed the ex-South Africa skipper.
"Calmness in the dressing room is the most important. We have got some good players in the team, who thrive for this occasion. Looking forward to playing tonight. We celebrated the game (Delhi v Mumbai) as a fan; we need to play some good cricket tonight."
Playing XIs
Lucknow Super Giants: Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), KL Rahul (captain), Evin Lewis, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Manan Vohra, Marcus Stoinis, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, Dushmantha Chameera and Ravi Bishnoi
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik, Mahipal Lomror, Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj and Josh Hazlewood.
