"8th wonder is Virat Kohli winning toss" - Twitterati reacts after Virat Kohli wins a rare toss

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are squaring off against each other in Match 31 of IPL 2021. Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first on a fresh Abu Dhabi pitch which might assist pacers in the initial phase of the game.

Virat Kohli's side gave chances to KS Bharat and Wanindu Hasaranga in this match. KKR team management also sprung a surprise by handing a debut to Madhya Pradesh all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer ahead of Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi.

Here are the playing XI's for the 31st IPL 2021 match.

Royal Challengers Bangalore Playing XI: Virat Kohli(c), Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat(wk), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Wanindu Hasaranga, Sachin Baby, Kyle Jamieson, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal

Kolkata Knight Riders Playing XI: Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan(c), Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik(wk), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna

Fans were shocked to see Virat Kohli win the toss as it is a rare phenomenon these days. They took to Twitter to share their views on this development.

Here are some of the best reactions:

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We need to win six from seven and that's what we've been focusing on: KKR all-rounder Andre Russell

Star KKR all-rounder Andre Russell pointed out that the franchise needs to win the majority of games from this juncture to advance to the next stage in the tournament.

Speaking ahead of the game against the RCB, Andre Russell discussed the pressure on KKR and said:

"We need to win six from seven and that's what we've been focusing on. We haven't been stressing about it too much. We are just taking it game by game.

"Once we keep going over each hurdle, we'll think about the other one. You cannot put too much pressure on yourself. You have to make sure you do whatever you're in control of."

KKR are currently in seventh place in the points table. They will be desperate to win this contest and make a positive start in the second half.