IPL 2025: Why Venkatesh Iyer isn't playing during KKR vs CSK clash at Eden Gardens? Ajinkya Rahane spills the beans

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were forced to drop Venkatesh Iyer from the playing XI in their crucial Indian Premier League (IPL) clash against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday after the ₹23.75 crore buy suffered a hand injury. The all-rounder has a got a few stitches on his left hand.

In the absence of Iyer, Manish Pandey gets a chance in the playing XI for the first time in this edition of IPL. "The last two games were really good for us. Just one change, Venkatesh Iyer misses out due to stitches, Manish Pandey comes in," KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane said after opting to bat first. On the other hand, CSK also made two changes.

Devon Conway, who missed a few games, came back for CSK, replacing Shaik Rasheed, while Urvil Patel made his debut for the five-time champions in place of Sam Curran.

How KKR, CSK have fared in IPL 2025?

With five wins and equal number of losses, KKR sit sixth in the points table with 11 points from 11 games. One game ended in no result. They need to win all their remaining three games to stay alive in the race for playoffs qualification. CSK, on the other hand, are already eliminated from the race for last four spot.

KKR vs CSK playing XI

Kolkata Knight Riders: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Moeen Ali, Ramandeep Singh, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy

Chennai Super Kings: Ayush Mhatre, Urvil Patel, Devon Conway, Ravindra Jadeja, Dewald Brevis, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravichandran Ashwin, Anshul Kamboj, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana

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