There was a huge cheer at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata ahead of the first ball between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The spectators at the venue went crazy when they saw KKR co-owner and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan in the VIP stand. This was the first match SRK was attending and when he caught the camera's attention, he waved at the fans and sent some flying kisses too in typical Shah Rukh fashion. Not to forget, SRK attends at least one game every season to back his team. This season was no different.


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Check video and pics of SRK cheering for his team at Eden Gardens:





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Earlier in the match, RCB captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and decided to bowl first. It made all the sense as Kolkata's conditions are such that dew comes later in the night and defending a target becomes very difficult. Faf informed Sanjay Manjrekar at the toss that their star pacer Reece Topley was missing due to a dislocated shoulder and he was replaced by his England teammate David Willey. It is to be noted that there was a big confusion at the toss as match referee Shakti Singh misheard Faf's call at the toss. The RCB captain had to tell him that he had called it right and Shakti might have misheard him due to noise at the stadium and his South African accent.


KKR captain Rana, however, had no problem with it and accepted the decision. Rana, who is leading in absence of injured Shreyas Iyer, could not trouble the scorers much as he made just 1 off 5 balls. Even opener Venkatesh Iyer (3) and Mandeep Singh (0) could not do much with the bat in hand on Thursday night against RCB bowlers.


Knight Riders are currently at 7th spot in IPL 2023 Points Table. The home team need a win tonight to ensure they jump from bottom to top in the standings. England opener Jason Roy, who has replaced Shakib Al Hasan in the squad, should be available from the third match. After RCB, KKR face defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) at Narendra Modi stadium on April 9.