Current scenario
Match no. 34 of IPL 2021 will feature defending champions Mumbai Indians taking on KKR in Abu Dhabi. KKR is coming off a dominant win against RCB and gained a spot in the point table whereas MI is coming off a loss against CSK, following their trend of nervous starts.
Although Captain Morgan’s side checked all the boxes in their previous match, their recent performance against MI indicates that they must be at their best to challenge the defending champions. However, Knight riders will be high on confidence after their convincing 9-wicket wins over RCB in which they chased down the target in just 10 overs, KKR still has a lot of ground to make up in the second half of the league phase to make the playoffs.
It will be intriguing to watch if MI’s top dogs, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya, can return. Particularly Rohit, who has a strong track record against KKR. The replacements in the playing XI versus Chennai Super Kings, Anmolpreet Singh, and Saurabh Tiwary, we’re unable to perform the job allotted to them.
Players to watch out for
Rohit Sharma has consistently performed well against the KKR, scoring 866 runs and securing four players of the match in the process. Mumbai will be hoping for Rohit’s return to the team. The responsibility for Mumbai’s spin department will fall on the young shoulders of Rahul Chahar, who is currently among the top wicket-takers in the IPL 2021.
KKR will be hoping for another all-around performance from their star player Andre Russell, who took three wickets against RCB. Sunil Narine has played relatively well against MI and will be crucial in getting the wickets of MI’s right-handed batsmen.
The battle to look out for
One of the key battles in this match will be between MI’s best death bowler Bumrah against KKR’s best finisher Russell. As per recent trends, Bumrah has gotten the better of Dre Russ by troubling him with his fast bouncers and pinpoint yorkers. With a good mix of yorkers and short-pitched deliveries, Jasprit Bumrah has been able to keep Andre Russell at bay. He has conceded only 51 runs in 40 balls against the all-rounder and dismissed him three times.
Probable playing XIs
Mumbai Indians
Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Saurabh Tiwary, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Adam Milne, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult
Kolkata Knight Riders
Venkatesh Iyer, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna