He returned wicketless in the only match he played this season.
After the coin toss at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Ajinkya Rahane announced one change in the playing XI for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash against Delhi Capitals (DC).
Rahane said at the toss, “We have one change, Anukul Roy comes in. It’s hard to read the wicket, I thought the left-arm spinner will be a good option on this surface.”
Sakariya, the left-arm fast bowler, has played only one match for KKR this season. In their latest game against Punjab Kings, he returned wicketless while giving away 39 runs in three overs.
Anukul Roy, on the other hand, is an all-rounder who offers a slow, left-arm orthodox style of bowling. He has been part of the franchise since 2022. However, he will play his first game of the season tonight.
Considering the nature of the pitch from DC’s last game played here against Royal Challengers Bengaluru just two nights ago, Anukul seems to be a preferred choice. Though the spinners couldn’t snare many wickets that night, the likes of Krunal Pandya, Suyash Sharma, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav were able to control the flow of runs.
KKR skipper rightly said, “We need to win five out of five, as simple as that. It’s hard to read this wicket. Need to adapt to the conditions and assess quickly.”
The defending champions are in a pickle as they are languishing in seventh position on the points table. KKR would be fearless to make as many changes as long as they end up on the winning side.
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Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel (w), Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Axar Patel (c), Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Dushmantha Chameera, Mukesh Kumar.
Impact Subs: Ashutosh Sharma, Jake Fraser McGurk, Tripurana Vijay, Sameer Rizvi, Donovan Ferreira.
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz (w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, Rovman Powell, Harshit Rana, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Impact Subs: Manish Pandey, Luvnith Sisodia, Mayank Markande, Vaibhav Arora, Ramandeep Singh.
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