IPL 2026: KKR elect to bowl against DC, Axar makes 2 changes; know playing XIs

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won the toss and opted to bowl first against Delhi Capitals (DC) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 clash at the Arun Jaitley stadium on May 8. While KKR didn't tinker with their playing XI, DC made two changes to their fold. Mukesh Kumar and Vipraj Nigam walked into DC's playing XI.

What did the captains say at the toss?

KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane, after winning the toss, said:

"We will bowl first. In the last three games, It's important to see the wicket and play accordingly. It's difficult to read the wicket, we have to play good cricket. When we had a break, the mood was great and the players are doing well."

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Meanwhile, DC skipper Axar Patel, after losing the toss, said:

"Nothing like that for me, batting first or bowling, you know, that thought is not in our hands. So, as a team, you should be ready whether it’s batting first or bowling first. You just have to be on your toes from the very first ball, that is very important. There are two changes in my team - Mukesh Kumar is in place of Natarajan, and Vipraj Nigam is in. As much as I have played on Delhi wickets, I feel there isn’t too much spin, but because of a little slowness, you know, the ball comes a bit slower after pitching. So I think spinners get a little help. And as far as seamers are concerned, mostly they use slower bouncers and slower balls more on these wickets. So I thought of using a combination of three spinners and three fast bowlers. Whoever plays here are professional cricketers, and you know, everyone has played international cricket too. So there aren’t that many tactical changes. If you bowl a good ball in the right area, then that ball remains a good ball. And if you bowl a bad ball, then obviously… even if you see long boundaries, batsmen still hit sixes there too, you know, even 90 meters. So I feel instead of focusing on the boundary size, you should focus on your own good bowling. Winning with good balls is very important."

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Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI):

Ajinkya Rahane(c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi(w), Cameron Green, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Kartik Tyagi, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy

Kolkata Knight Riders Impact subs: Ramandeep Singh, Finn Allen, Tejasvi Dahiya, Navdeep Saini, Tim Seifert

Delhi Capitals (Playing XI):

Pathum Nissanka, KL Rahul(w), Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel(c), Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Lungi Ngidi, Mukesh Kumar
Delhi Capitals Impact subs: Karun Nair, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Abishek Porel, David Miller