KKR opener Chris Lynn to miss the match against Punjab due to injury

Kolkata Knight Rider’s new opening sensation, Australia’s T20 specialist Chris Lynn fired on all cylinders in KKR’s 2017 opener against the Gujarat Lions in Rajkot. Captain Gambhir’s move to let Lynn open with him instead of Robin Uthappa showed results. But in their second game against the Mumbai Indians, Lynn injured himself, and news had it that the injury was grave enough to rule him out of the tournament completely.

But KKR batting coach cleared doubts and confirmed that the injury is not as bad as initially thought, and the batsman would definitely play a few more games this season.

“It’s not as bad as we thought. Our medical staff is working overtime to see how quickly we can get him ready. Good chance that he will still play a role in this season for us.”

Since Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib al Hasan has joined the KKR camp after missing the first two games due to national duty, it is likely that Lynn will be replaced by Shakib tonight when Knight take on the Kings at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

As far as the opening combination is concerned, it can be assumed that Robin Uthappa will walk out to bat with Gambhir.

KKR registered a sensational 10 wickets victory over the Gujarat Lions but against Mumbai, they lost an almost won game with their death bowlers having given away too many runs to Nitish Rana and Hardik Pandya.

For now, getting the better of the Kings XI Punjab seems a tough task since it is the only team which remains unbeaten in this edition of the tournament thus far, having won both their opening games in style. Lynn’s absence will surely be felt in a team which is already missing out on Andre Russell’s services.

The two-time champions meet Kings XI Punjab in their 3rd encounter of the tournament today starting from 8 pm.