[Watch] KKR vs RCB, IPL 2023: Nitish Rana names leg-spinner impact player Suyash Sharma in playing 11
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Nitish Rana grabbed headlines at the toss ahead of his side's IPL 2023 fixture against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
He mentioned Suyash Sharma, the uncapped leg-spinner, as the one change made, although the youngster wasn't listed in the playing XI. It is worth noting that teams can name their playing XIs after the toss in matches in IPL 2023, and it is completely possible that Suyash might have started had KKR bowled first.
RCB skipper Faf du Plessis won the toss and asked the hosts to bat first. When Sanjay Manjrekar, who oversaw proceedings at the toss, asked Rana about his team's changes, he mentioned that Suyash was in for Anukul Roy.
This will be Suyash Sharma's first competitive game. He hasn't played any List A, FC or T20 game before this. Excited to see what he has to offer.
You can watch that part of the toss in the video below at the time stamp 2:14:
KKR lose two wickets in two deliveries as David Willey breathes fire for RCB
The Knight Riders are playing their first match at the Eden Gardens since IPL 2019, with the tournament having to move away from the home-and-away format in the last few years owing to COVID-19.
KKR started well against RCB thanks to a brisk start by opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz. However, David Willey, who replaced his injured countryman Reece Topley, struck twice. He castled Venkatesh Iyer before backing it up with a beauty that got rid of Mandeep Singh for a golden duck.
Two in Two by David Willey!
A double wicket maiden by @david_willey 🔥🔥
Venkatesh Iyer and Mandeep Singh depart.
Live - bit.ly/TATAIPL-2023-09 #TATAIPL #KKRvRCB #IPL2023 https://t.co/FjuJoHWzLH
Skipper Rana then staved off the hat-trick delivery, although Gurbaz continued to go strong and power the Knights along.
At the time of writing, the hosts are 47/2 at the end of six overs and will be looking to post a huge total, given that dew is expected in the second innings. They are also eyeing their first win of IPL 2023, having lost their opener to the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Mohali.
Lineups:
KKR: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Mandeep Singh, Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy.
Substitutes: David Wiese, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, N Jagadeesan, Suyash Sharma.
RCB: Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Shahbaz Ahmed, Glenn Maxwell, Michael Bracewell, Dinesh Karthik (wk), David Willey, Harshal Patel, Karn Sharma, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj.
Substitutes: Finn Allen, Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror, Suyash Prabhudessai, Sonu Yadav.