Winning the toss in cricket can often set the tone for the entire game, and Kolkata Knight Riders’ captain, Shreyas Iyer, seemed to understand this well. In a bid to ensure luck was on his side, he tried an unconventional approach before tossing the coin for the game against Rajasthan Royals at the Eden Gardens.
Before flipping the coin, Iyer was spotted giving it a quick kiss. While his RR counterpart, Sanju Samson, may have missed the gesture, commentator Sanjay Manjrekar didn’t, promptly bringing it to everyone’s attention.
However, despite the effort, Samson made the right call and opted to bowl first after winning the toss. When asked about Iyer’s kiss during the interview, Samson appeared surprised but took it in good spirits, sharing a laugh before continuing.
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Explaining his decision to bowl first, Samson highlighted the advantage of chasing at Eden Gardens and expressed excitement about the atmosphere in the stadium. He also mentioned the return of Jos Buttler and R Ashwin to the team, adding to their strength.
🚨 Toss Update🚨
Rajasthan Royals win the toss and elect to bowl against Kolkata Knight Riders
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Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer conceded that his team would have preferred to bowl first as well, especially considering the conditions. He praised the performance of spinner Sunil Narine in the previous game and expressed confidence in his abilities. Unfazed by the outcome of the toss, KKR stuck with the same team lineup from the previous match.
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Despite the quirky pre-toss antics, the focus remained on the game ahead, with both captains acknowledging the importance of their respective strategies in securing a favourable result.
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Philip Salt (wk), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Shreyas Iyer (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Sen, Yuzvendra Chahal