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The second match of the Indian Premier League between Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders went underway at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali. Winning the toss, Nitish Rana led Kolkata Knight Riders decided to bowl first. However, fans and experts alike were surprised when KKR didn’t name Venkatesh Iyer and Kiwi pacer Lockie Ferguson in their 11.
Why is Venkatesh Iyer not playing today?
With Shreyas Iyer missing the season due to injury, it was expected that Venkatesh Iyer would play a massive role in KKR’s batting order. However, when Nitish Rana named his playing 11, Venkatesh was nowhere to be found. Experts believe that there is a special reason behind that.
Since KKR chose to bowl after winning the toss, they decided to field a bowling-oriented squad. KKR names six frontline bowlers in their playing 11 in the form of Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, and Varun Chakravarthy。 Since KKR bat second, they can make use of the impact player rule to include Venkatesh as a replacement in the second innings.
KKR are batting second in the game, and thus it made more sense to play six bowlers in the first innings and then replace one bowler with hard hitter Venkatesh Iyer if the team needs so. The impact play rule has given the teams the liberty to create more balanced squads this season with full-time substitutes available at any point in the game.
Why is Lockie Ferguson not playing today?
Another surprising exclusion from KKR’s playing 11 was pacer Lockie Ferguson. Ferguson had skipped New Zealand’s ODI series against Sri Lanka to be available full-time for the Kolkata Knight Riders. However, his reason for exclusion from the team is different from that of Venkate .
Lockie Ferguson does not seem to be 100% fit and thus KKR have exempted him from the playing 11. The IPL is two months long and KKR do not want to take any risks with their players’ fitness. Thought the status of Ferguson’s recovery still remains unknown, fans are hoping he would be back before KKR take the field in their next game.
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