IPL 2025: Why is Moeen Ali not playing in KKR vs LSG Match 21?

The historic venue - Eden Gardens in Kolkata is hosting the Match No. 21 of IPL 2025 on Tuesday, April 08 in a rescheduled clash from Sunday. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) marked the commencement of the contest with the latter being put in to bat first at the iconic ground.

KKR vs LSG, Match 21 - Toss Update

Ajinkya Rahane got the coin toss in his favour and iterated his decision to be bowling first against LSG. The Kolkata captain elaborated on his decision, saying that the boundary dimensions on one side of the pitch forced him to think about the decision.

Spencer Johnson replaces Moeen Ali; Same XI for LSG

KKR made one change to their playing combination from the previous game, as ace pacer Spencer Johnson replaced all-rounder Moeen Ali from the team. The English all-rounder did not fit the batting combination well, and was ineffective with the ball as well, which must have tempted the defending champions to turn their back on the experienced campaigner. Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant, the LSG captain, told that they haven't tweaked their XI.

KKR vs LSG, Match 21 - What did the captains say?

Rishabh Pant, LSG captain

Wouldn't say very happy. Not thinking about the past too much. Will take the positives and move forward. As a team we are winning and as a captain I am happy. We are playing with the same playing XI.

Ajinkya Rahane, KKR captain

We are going to bowl first. The wicket looks really good, it's not that hot. The wicket won't change much. One side boundary is small, that's why we are bowling first. Everyone is looking forward to this game. This game is all about starting fresh, need to take the positives, need to take one step at a time. People are going to talk about it, we know Quinny and Sunil are match-winners. We are not worried about them. Spencer comes in place of Moeen.

KKR vs LSG, Match 21 - Playing 11s

Kolkata Knight Riders

Quinton de Kock(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Vaibhav Arora, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy

Impact Subs: Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Anukul Roy, Rovman Powell, Luvnith Sisodia

Lucknow Super Giants

Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Shardul Thakur, Akash Deep, Avesh Khan, Digvesh Singh Rathi

Impact Subs: Ravi Bishnoi, Prince Yadav, Shahbaz Ahamad, Matthew Breetzke, Himmat Singh