Why is Jason Roy not playing in today’s KKR vs GT IPL 2023 match?

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) suffered a huge blow ahead of their IPL 2023 match against Gujarat Titans as their star opener Jason Roy was ruled out of the contest on Saturday (April 29). GT and KKR are squaring off in the 39th match of IPL 2023 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata this afternoon.

Roy has been their only consistent performer in the opening department, as he has smashed two blazing half-centuries in the last two games. However, he will miss today's game due to a back niggle he picked up during the last game.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz returned to playing XI and will open the innings in Roy's absence. On the reason behind Jason Roy's absence from the GT clash, KKR captain Nitish Rana said:

"Jason Roy has some back issues, so (Rahmanullah) Gurbaz will come in his place."

GT captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to field first in the contest. They went in with an unchanged team combination from the previous game. Kolkata skipper Nitish Rana revealed he was going to bat first anyways and expressed confidence in their abilities. Speaking after losing the toss, Rana said:

"We would have liked to have batted first to be honest. The weather will have an impact it seems but we are confident about things. For us, it's about keeping things simple and playing to our strengths.Umesh Yadav misses out and in his place, Harshit Rana comes in.

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GT Playing XI:

Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Hardik Pandya (c), Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma, Joshua Little

Impact subs: Shubman Gill, KS Bharat, Sai Sudharsan, Shivam Mavi, Jayant Yadav

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KKR Playing XI:

N Jagadeesan (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, David Wiese, Shardul Thakur, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy

Impact subs: Suyash Sharma, Mandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Tim Southee, Kulwant Khejroliya