Abu Dhabi, Sep 20 (IANS): Royal Challengers Bangalore won the toss and elected to bat first against Kolkata Knight Riders in the second match of UAE leg of IPL 2021.

RCB captain Virat Kohli observed that the grass covering on the pitch was there to hold the surface together. He also believed that the pitch will slow down as the game progresses.

Kohli, playing his 200th IPL match, said that Monday's match is special for his team due to wearing blue jerseys, as a mark of tribute for frontline workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Venkatesh Iyer will be making his IPL debut for KKR while KS Bharat and Wanindu Hasaranga are making their first appearance for RCB in the IPL.

KKR Playing XI: Venkatesh Iyer, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (captain), Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy and Prasidh Krishna

RCB Playing XI: Virat Kohli (captain), Devdutt Padikkal, KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Sachin Baby, Wanindu Hasaranga, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj and Yuzvendra Chahal.