{"id":49103,"date":"2026-04-17T19:09:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T13:39:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/?p=49103"},"modified":"2026-04-17T19:13:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T13:43:02","slug":"ipl-2026-gt-vs-kkr-finn-allen-out-tim-seifert-in-as-kkr-win-toss-and-choose-to-bat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/cricket\/ipl\/ipl-2026-gt-vs-kkr-finn-allen-out-tim-seifert-in-as-kkr-win-toss-and-choose-to-bat\/","title":{"rendered":"IPL 2026 GT vs KKR: Finn Allen out, Tim Seifert in as KKR win toss and choose to bat \u2013 pitch report, teams"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Rahane opts to bat, Gill sticks with same side<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ajinkya Rahane chose to bat first, saying his side needed a reset and freedom at the crease. He accepted results shape opinion but stressed momentum in T20 cricket. One change: Tim Seifert replaces Finn Allen.<\/p>\n<p>Shubman Gill said he would have preferred to bowl, expecting dew later. He pointed to a middle-order collapse in the last game and called for simpler execution. The side remains unchanged.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kolkata Knight Riders Playing XI:<\/strong> Ajinkya Rahane (c), Tim Seifert (wk), Sunil Narine, Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rovman Powell, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gujarat Titans Playing XI: <\/strong>Shubman Gill (c), B Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Ashok Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><u><b>Impact Substitutes<\/b><\/u><\/p>\n<p><b>Gujarat Titans<\/b>\u00a0\u2013 Anuj Rawat, Shahrukh Khan, Manav Suthar, Jason Holder, Kulwant Khejroliya<\/p>\n<p><b>Kolkata Knight Riders<\/b>\u00a0\u2013 Varun Chakaravarthy, Navdeep Saini, Manish Pandey, Finn Allen, Tejasvi Dahiya<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none [--shadow-height:45px] has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none has-data-writing-block:-mt-(--shadow-height) has-data-writing-block:pt-(--shadow-height) [&:has([data-writing-block])>*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]\" dir=\"auto\" data-turn-id=\"request-WEB:3716f74b-1687-4da4-ae66-4234e8fdcd59-2\" data-testid=\"conversation-turn-6\" data-scroll-anchor=\"false\" data-turn=\"assistant\">\n<div class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto [--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-xs,calc(var(--spacing)*4))] @w-sm\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-sm,calc(var(--spacing)*6))] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-lg,calc(var(--spacing)*16))] px-(--thread-content-margin)\">\n<div class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\">\n<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col gap-4 grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal outline-none keyboard-focused:focus-ring [.text-message+&]:mt-1\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"f642b436-ae46-4e1e-be58-4db62161af74\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-5-3\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden\">\n<div class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert w-full wrap-break-word dark markdown-new-styling\">\n<p data-start=\"34\" data-end=\"292\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"><strong>Pitch report \u2013<\/strong> the pitch looks firm with good pace and bounce. There is light grass and some moisture despite the heat. Boundaries are not small, so timing matters. Expect a high-scoring game, but not effortless hitting throughout.<\/p>\n<p><b>KKR search for answers as GT build momentum<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kolkata Knight Riders have one point from five games and their batting remains unsettled, with roles still unclear around Sunil Narine and Ajinkya Rahane. The lack of spin-hitters continues to hurt.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gujarat Titans, meanwhile, are finding rhythm. Jos Buttler has returned to form and the bowling has held up. But their middle order is still untested. Whether KKR can exploit that remains uncertain.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"z-0 flex min-h-[46px] justify-start\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none [--shadow-height:45px] has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none has-data-writing-block:-mt-(--shadow-height) has-data-writing-block:pt-(--shadow-height) [&:has([data-writing-block])>*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-(--header-height)\" dir=\"auto\" data-turn-id=\"4b0afa71-db3a-46f0-9b89-740c4e33853e\" data-testid=\"conversation-turn-7\" data-scroll-anchor=\"false\" data-turn=\"user\">\n<div class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto pt-12 [--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-xs,calc(var(--spacing)*4))] @w-sm\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-sm,calc(var(--spacing)*6))] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-lg,calc(var(--spacing)*16))] px-(--thread-content-margin)\">\n<div class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col\">\n<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col gap-4 grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal outline-none keyboard-focused:focus-ring [.text-message+&]:mt-1\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-author-role=\"user\" data-message-id=\"4b0afa71-db3a-46f0-9b89-740c4e33853e\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden items-end rtl:items-start\">\n<div class=\"user-message-bubble-color corner-superellipse\/0.98 relative min-w-0 rounded-[22px] px-4 py-2.5 leading-6 max-w-(--user-chat-width,70%)\">\n<div class=\"[overflow-wrap:anywhere] whitespace-pre-wrap\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rahane opts to bat, Gill sticks with same side Ajinkya Rahane chose to bat first, saying his side needed a\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":473,"featured_media":49107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/473"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49103"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49115,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49103\/revisions\/49115"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}