KL Rahul and Eoin Morgan. Pic: IPLT20.COMThe Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will begin as favorites when they face the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Match 45 of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) in Dubai on Friday.KKR are currently on 10 points from 11 matches, the same as the Mumbai Indians (MI). A win against PBKS will strengthen their chances of making the playoffs. As for Punjab, they have registered eight points from 11 matches and cannot afford to lose another game to stay in serious contention for finishing in the top four.In their previous match, KKR put up a fighting show against the fancied Delhi Capitals (DC) and came up trumps. They would have gained a lot of confidence from the win. PBKS went down to MI, following a shoddy show with the bat.Also Check: IPL Live Score | IPL Points Table | IPL ScheduleKKR vs PBKS - Today Match Playing XIKKR playing XI: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Tim Seifert, Sunil Narine, Shivam Mavi, Tim Southee, Varun ChakravarthyPBKS playing XI: KL Rahul (c & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Shahrukh Khan, Deepak Hooda, Fabian Allen, Nathan Ellis, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep SinghIndianPremierLeague@IPL🚨 Toss Update from Dubai 🚨@PunjabKingsIPL have elected to bowl against @KKRiders. #VIVOIPL #KKRvPBKSFollow the match 👉 bit.ly/IPL2021-457:05 AM · Oct 1, 202122422🚨 Toss Update from Dubai 🚨@PunjabKingsIPL have elected to bowl against @KKRiders. #VIVOIPL #KKRvPBKSFollow the match 👉 bit.ly/IPL2021-45 https://t.co/gOGUHuZ6AMKKR vs PBKS - Full squadsKKR: Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Tim Seifert, Rahul Tripathi, Rinku Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Eoin Morgan (c), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Varun CV, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Sandeep Warrier, Prasidh Krishna, Shakib Al Hasan, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Karun Nair, Harbhajan Singh, Ben Cutting, Venkatesh Iyer, Pawan NegPBKS: KL Rahul (c), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Adil Rashid, Mohammed Shami, Harpreet Brar, Aiden Markram, Nathan Ellis, Ishan Porel, Chris Jordan, Jalaj Saxena, Moises Henriques, Prabhsimran Singh, Mandeep Singh, Murugan Ashwin, Sarfaraz Khan, Fabian Allen, Saurabh Kumar, Utkarsh Singh, Darshan Nalkande, Arshdeep SinghKKR vs PBKS - Today IPL Match umpiresOn-field Umpires: Richard Illingworth, K. AnanthapadmanabhanThird Umpire: Anil DandekarMatch Referee: Manu NayarKKR vs PBKS: Who won the toss in today's IPL match?PBKS have won the toss and have opted to field. There are a few changes in the PBKS XI. Since Chris Gayle has left, Fabian Allen comes in. Mayank Agarwal is back in place of Mandeep Singh, while Shahrukh Khan in coming for Harpreet Brar.Explaining his decision to bowl first, PBKS skipper KL Rahul said:"Tricky to bat first here maybe. You don't know if 150 will be good or 180. So better to ask the opposition to set that up."IndianPremierLeague@IPLTeam News2⃣ changes for @KKRiders as Tim Seifert & Shivam Mavi named in the team3⃣ changes for @PunjabKingsIPL as @mayankcricket, @FabianAllen338 & @shahrukh_35 picked in the team. #VIVOIPL #KKRvPBKSFollow the match 👉 bit.ly/IPL2021-45Here are the Playing XIs 👇7:08 AM · Oct 1, 2021959Team News2⃣ changes for @KKRiders as Tim Seifert & Shivam Mavi named in the team3⃣ changes for @PunjabKingsIPL as @mayankcricket, @FabianAllen338 & @shahrukh_35 picked in the team. #VIVOIPL #KKRvPBKSFollow the match 👉 bit.ly/IPL2021-45Here are the Playing XIs 👇 https://t.co/Zpfb5wf0uEOn the other hand, Tim Seifert will be making debut for KKR, replacing Lockie Ferguson. Shivam Mavi comes in for Sandeep Warrier.