The defending champions of the Mumbai Indians would look to ignore the loss to Chennai Super Kings in the opening of the tournament when they face the two-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders in the fifth match of the 2020 IPL in Abu Dhabi. Mumbai middle order looked a bit iffy after they failed to capitalize on the good start provided by Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock. They would be looking to tighten up loose ends when they take on KKR, which begins its campaign on Wednesday.
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Here is MI’s planned XI for the 2020 IPL match against KKR.
1 Rohit Sharma: There are no prizes for guessing where the IM captain should hit. It has to be at the top. Rohit appeared to be in good shape before playing a headlong shot against Sam Curran in the CSK game and would look to make amends against KKR, a franchise he plays well against.
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2 Quinton de Kock: The South African wicket-keeper batsman sported a million dollars in the opener against CSK. He gave MI a good start by scoring 33 of 20 balls. It will be up to him to do something similar in his second match against KKR.
3 Suryakumar Yadav: He has been one of the best Mumbai players on the national circuit and showed brilliance in the first tournament. You should have the backing of management to achieve a longer career at number 3.
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4 Saurabh Tiwary: Rohit pulled a rabbit out of the hat by naming Saurabh Tiwary in MI playing XI in place of Ishan Kishan. The experienced left-hander repaid the captain’s faith by emerging as IM’s top scorer with 42 of 31 balls against CSK.
5 Kieron Pollard: The great West Indies all-rounder was sent to No. 6 in CSK’s match and chances are high that he will get a promotion in his next match against KKR.
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6 Hardik Pandya: There was a lot of talk about Hardik Pandya’s workload management before the IPL and we got a glimpse of it when MI’s off-roader played nothing on Saturday. While he remains one of his main weapons with the bat, it will be interesting to see if he can beat his average pace against KKR.
7 Krunal Pandya: Senior Pandya was a bit disappointed with both the bat and the ball in the first IPL game. He is one of the leading spinners in MI and he has to cope with these conditions.
8 Mitchell McClenaghan: It is a very difficult decision to leave out James Pattinson after his explosion with the new ball. But Mitchell McClenaghan could just add that extra balance to MI’s bowling lineup, particularly in the media.
9 Rahul Chahar: Like Krunal, Chahar would also not be satisfied with modest returns in the opener. He is the top IM player entering the tournament and has to produce the goods against a strong KKR batting lineup.
10 Jasprit Bumrah: MI’s most experienced closer was a huge disappointment in the CSK game. He conceded 43 runs and collected just 1 wicket. But cricket champions like him are allowed to have odd days. We can expect Bumrah to make a strong recovery on Wednesday.
11 Trent Boult: Easily the best IM bowler on display the other night. Boult will again look to attack early against KKR on Wednesday.
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