IPL 2026 KKR vs RR Live Score, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals Match Live Updates: The opening pair of Rajasthan Royals, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal, has taken the side to 79/0 in eight overs after RR captain Riyan Parag won the toss and opted to bat first against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens.
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It’s an IPL 2026 clash where both teams aiming for two completely different outcomes: while third-placed Royals could be on top of the IPL standings with a win today, the three-time champions Kolkata are hoping to rise out of the basement of the IPL standings with a victory today.
Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals XIs:
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane(c), Tim Seifert(w), Cameron Green, Rovman Powell, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi, Varun Chakaravarthy
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel(w), Riyan Parag(c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi
Scroll down for the live updates from the Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals game
Why on earth is KKR reluctant to promote Rinku Singh higher up order?
IPL 2026: KKR sent Rinku Singh out to bat at No. 7 against Gujarat Titans. (CREIMAS)
Before the national selectors and India’s team management firmed up the 15 that won the T20 World Cup earlier this year, a considerable amount of time had gone around the inclusion of Rinku Singh. The southpaw wasn’t among the first choice players with Shubman Gill ahead of him. But the latter struggles and India’s intent to go full throttle from the word go had prompted a question: If they lose wickets early in the powerplay, who is the best bet among the lot. The answer to that was Rinku.
It is how Rinku made the 15-member cut for the T20 World Cup. Of course, India didn’t endure any such nightmare in the tournament and it allowed the left-hander to play the finisher’s role. And as Kolkata Knight Riders are struggling to get off the mark, with their batting unit showing no signs of being a settled unit, there is a key question that is emerging: Why is KKR reluctant to promote Rinku higher up the order, when none of their middle-order batsmen has showed signs of owning up the spot.
