Rajkot, April 6: Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will look to improve their record against Gujarat Lions (GL) and start their Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign with a win when the two sides meet at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Friday (April 7).
Full schedule; Squads; Photos; Broadcasters list
In 2016, KKR lost both their matches to the Lions with the Suresh Raina-skippered franchise registering a comfortable six-wicket victory here. (GL schedule)
Shakib though Shakib's will him miss the opening match due to national team commitments in Sri Lanka.
The pace battery with in-form India pacer Umesh Yadav, Boult, Woakes and Powell among others, also looks better than previous seasons.
Overall, it remains to be seen which teams gets a better start to the 10th edition of the cash-rich league. For KKR, a win on the road will do their confidence a world of good.
Squads
Gujarat Lions: Suresh Raina (captain), James Faulkner, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo, Aaron Finch, Dwayne Smith, Andrew Tye, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Dhawal Kulkarni, Praveen Kumar, Ishan Kishan, Pradeep Sangwan, Shivil Kaushik, Shadab Jakati, Jaydev Shah, Jason Roy, Chirag Suri, Basil Thampi, Manpreet Gony, Nathu Singh, Tejas Singh Baroka, Munaf Patel, Akash Deep Nath, Shubham Agarwal, Pratham Singh, Shelley Shaurya.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Sunil Narine, Shakib Al Hasan, Chris Lynn, Kuldeep Singh Yadav, Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Robin Uthappa (wicketkeeper), Umesh Yadav, Yusuf Pathan, Sheldon Jackson, Singh Rajpoot, Trent Boult, Chris Woakes, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rovman Powell, Darren Bravo, Rishi Dhawan, R Sanjay Yadav, Ishank Jaggi, Sayan Ghosh, Colin de Grandhomme.
Match starts at 8 PM IST - LIVE on Sony SIX, Sony Max, Sony ESPN
Playing on April 8 (Saturday)
Match 4: Punjab Vs Pune - 4 PM IST (Rajkot)
Match 5: Bangalore Vs Delhi - 8 PM IST (Bengaluru)
GL's next match - Vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (April 9 Sunday) 4 PM IST - Indore
KKR's next match - Vs Mumbai Indians (April 9 Sunday) 8 PM IST - Mumbai
IANS