De Kock set to rejoin KKR ahead of RCB game

South Africa wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock is set to rejoin Kolkata Knight Riders' squad in Bengaluru on Thursday, two days ahead of their must-win fixture against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). There had been some uncertainty surrounding de Kock's return until Tuesday evening. He has since confirmed his availability for the last leg of the tournament that will run from May 17 to June 3. However, England allrounder Moeen Ali has opted out of the remainder of IPL 2025 due to personal reasons. Moeen is believed to communicated his decision to the KKR management on Wednesday night.

KKR are also awaiting an update from West Indies batter Rovman Powell, who is nursing an unspecified injury that may hamper his participation. Powell had been in Dubai along with the rest of KKR's West Indies contingent, while being in close consultation with the medical staff. ESPNcricinfo understands the franchise is looking at signing at least one short-term replacement.

All other overseas players, including Quinton de Kock and Spencer Johnson, whose availability had been a slight doubt, have arrived in Bengaluru. Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batter, was the last of their confirmed overseas signings to arrive in Bengaluru.

Andre Russell and Sunil Narine were among the first batch of overseas players to arrive in Bengaluru on Wednesday afternoon. The pair is believed to have boarded a mid-morning flight to Bengaluru from Dubai, where they'd been stationed ever since BCCI decided to suspend the tournament temporarily due to border-tensions between India and Pakistan. Their onward travel to the Caribbean had been put on hold in anticipation of a resumption.

KKR are set to train at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday and Friday in the run-up to the season's resumption on Saturday. KKR are currently sixth, with five wins and a no-result in 12 matches. They need to win both their remaining matches and hope several other results go their way to have slim chances of making the playoffs.