Kolkata, Apr 3 (UNI) Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis makes his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut as

Sunrisers Hyderabad takes on Kolkata Knight Riders in the 15th match at Eden Gardens here on Thursday.

Hyderabad won the toss and opted to field, with captain Pat Cummins justifying the decision, saying, "We will bowl. Looks like a good surface, but I’m terrible at reading it. They outplayed us in the final, but there is a bit of change in both sides."

Hyderabad also included Simarjeet Singh in their playing XI along with Mendis, marking notable changes to their squad.

Kolkata captain Ajinkya Rahane expressed confidence in the playing conditions, stating, "Looks good, I'm really happy with the pitch. We were also looking to bowl first. It will suit our spinners. At home, you should get what you want, but we’ll need to assess the situation quickly with the bat."

Rahane acknowledged the team's previous setback and emphasised the importance of improvement.

"We sat together, discussed how we can get better, but this is a long tournament and it was just one bad day. Moeen Ali comes in place of Spencer Johnson. Regardless of all plans, we will have to come out and do well in the middle," he added.

A special moment was observed in the KKR camp as Rinku Singh was presented with a commemorative shirt on the occasion of his 50th IPL match.

Cummins stressed the need for an aggressive but controlled approach in batting. "We’ve spoken about our batting. We’ve been at our best while being aggressive, but we can’t be reckless. He (Rinku Singh) has been amazing, doesn’t get unfazed by any situation. Coordination is the key, but we do have a clear idea."

Teams:

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Aniket Verma, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Kamindu Mendis, Pat Cummins(c), Harshal Patel, Simarjeet Singh, Mohammed Shami, Zeeshan Ansari

Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy

Sunrisers Hyderabad Impact Subs: Abhinav Manohar, Jaydev Unadkat, Travis Head, Rahul Chahar, Wiaan Mulder

Kolkata Knight Riders Impact Subs: Manish Pandey, Vaibhav Arora, Anukul Roy, Rovman Powell Luvnith Sisodia.

UNI BDN BM