KKR Playing 11 vs Punjab Kings- IPL 2025, Match 31

Punjab Kings (PBKS) will take on the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 31st match of IPL 2025 on April 15 at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur

Punjab Kings are coming into the game having lost the last match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, as the 2014 runners-up had no answers to an assault from Abhishek Sharma, who scored a match-winning century

Kolkata Knight Riders, on the other hand, clinched an easy win against CSK and will look to keep up the good work against PBKS on Tuesday.

KKR Playing 11 vs Punjab Kings- IPL 2025, Match 31:

Openers: Quinton de Kock (wk), Sunil Narine

South African wicketkeeper batter Quinton de Kock will open the batting for Kolkata Knight Riders along with Sunil Narine. The left-hander would be itching to get a big score after failing to make a significant contribution in the last match against CSK while chasing a modest total

Sunil Narine, who will partner Quinton de Kock at the top of the order, helped KKR get their net run rate back on track courtesy of quick-fire innings in a small run chase against CSK and will look to replicate the same against Punjab Kings

Middle-order: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh

Ajinkya Rahane, the KKR captain, would be elated with the way the defending champions made a strong comeback against CSK and would hope to carry on the winning momentum in the upcoming match against Punjab Kings, and would also like to contribute while batting at number three

Ajinkya Rahane will need good support from experienced players like Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh, both of whom played good innings in a close loss against LSG at the Eden Gardens. The game against Punjab Kings will also provide an opportunity for Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Andre Russell to score some runs.

Bowlers: Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Spancer Jhonson, Varun Chakravarthy

KKR made a solid comeback against CSK in the bowling department by restricting the former champions to a score of less than 110, which proved to be below par on a helpful wicket at Chepauk. The bowling was led by the spin trio of Sunil Narine, Moeen Ali, and Varun Chakravarthy.

The performance of the spin bowlers would give Kolkata Knight Riders a lot of confidence going forward in the tournament, as the pitches are expected to assist the spinners in the upcoming matches. Having said that, spinners might not play a vital role against the Punjab Kings due to the nature of the wicket in Mullanpur.

KKR have a good range of fast bowling at their disposal with the likes of Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora, both of whom have delivered impactful performances with the new ball in the first six overs for the team and will look to do the same in the next match against the Punjab Kings

Harshit and Vaibhav will be assisted by Andre Russell, who has a reputation for picking wickets while bowling in the last five overs of the innings and has provided crucial breakthroughs for KKR over the years, along with Spencer Johnson, who might get a chance against Punjab