Punjab Kings (PBKS) will face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in match number 31 of IPL 2025 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur on Tuesday, April 15. PBKS have played five matches so far, winning three and losing two. On the other hand, KKR have played six, out of which they have won three and lost as many.In their previous match, Punjab suffered an eight-wicket hammering at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. PBKS batted first and put up 245-6 on the board as skipper as Shreyas Iyer slammed 82 off 36. His heroics, however, went in vain as Abhishek Sharma smashed 141 off 55 balls to lift SRH to a much-needed win in 18.3 overs.Kolkata thumped Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by eight wickets in their previous match at Chepauk. Fielding first, KKR were exceptional as they held CSK to 103-9. Sunil Narine registered figures of 3-13, while Varun Chakaravarthy (2-22) and Harshit Rana (2-16) were also impressive. Kolkata cruised home in the chase.In the head-to-head battle, KKR have a prominent 21-12 lead over PBKS. Ahead of the match in Mullanpur on Tuesday, we pick a combined playing XI of the two sides, with impact player options.Top-order: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Sunil NarinePriyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk) and Narine would be the top-order choices in the combined PBKS-KKR playing XI for IPL 2025. Priyansh followed his superb hundred against CSK with a blazing 13-ball 36 against SRH.Prabhsimran would be the keeper-batter in the combined XI. The aggressive batter has scored 133 runs in five innings in IPL 2025 at a strike rate of 160.24. As for Narine, he has been exceptional with bat and ball. The versatile cricketer has scored 125 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 189.39. With his off spin, he has claimed five scalps at an economy rate of 7.77, with a best of 3-13.Middle-order: Shreyas Iyer (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Shashank Singh, Marcus StoinisPBKS skipper Shreyas has been in excellent form with the willow in IPL 2025. In five innings, he has smashed 250 runs at a strike rate of 208.33, with three half-centuries. What has stood out about Shreyas in IPL 2025 has been his completely fearless approach with the willow.KKR vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer has found some batting rhythm after a slow start. The left-hander hit 60 off 29 balls against SRH at Eden Gardens and followed it up with 45 off 29 against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the same venue.The PBKS duo of Shashank Singh and Marcus Stoinis would be the finishers in the combined Punjab-Kolkata IPL 2025 playing XI. Shashank has contributed 108 runs in four innings at a strike rate of 158.82, with a best of 52*. Stoinis overcame a string of low scores by clobbering 34* off just 11 balls against SRH, a blazing cameo that featured one four and four sixes.Bowlers: Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit RanaArshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Arora and Harshit would be the pacers in the combined PBKS-KKR IPL 2025 playing XI, while Chakaravarthy would handle the spin duties with Narine.Left-arm pacer Arshdeep has picked up seven wickets in five matches at an average of 27.14 and an economy rate of 9.50, with a best of 3-43. KKR speedster Arora has seven wickets to his name from five innings at an average of 24.28 and an economy rate of 8.94. Harshit has also claimed seven wickets in six innings at an average of 25.42 and an economy rate of 8.90.Leg spinner Chakaravarthy just seems to be getting better and better with each game. In six matches, he has picked up eight wickets at an average of 18.37 and an impressive economy rate of 6.39, with a best of 3-22.Impact Sub options: Glenn Maxwell, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi