IPL 2020 | MI vs KKR: Match Preview, Predicted XI & Dream11 Fantasy Picks

As the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League is nearing its completion of one month, teams are stacking up against each other for round two of the clashes between them. In fans' and experts’ eyes, the fact that every team plays each other twice in the tournament and that provides teams with an opportunity to bounce back if they don’t make a good start. The Kolkata Knight Riders led by Dinesh Karthik will walk on the field with exactly the same objective against a Mumbai Indians that has truly looked like a side fitting for the tag of ‘4-time champions’. Mumbai will be hoping for consistency from the players and will try to keep up the momentum they have picked after the loss in the opening game of this season.

Karthik’s Knight Riders have failed to click as a team and while the team has produced some stellar individual scores, it has not been able to match the challenges posed by the teams in good form this season. The men in purple and gold had started the season against the very Mumbai Indians side when Rohit Sharma had put on his full-throttle attack against the Kolkata bowling line-up. The team has bounced back from the first game on the back of a few strong performances but have looked unconvincing in several crunch moments in the game.

In the last game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the team never looked in the race while chasing a mountain of 195 runs. A team that has a legacy of being strong on pitches that are slower and spinning, Kolkata failed miserably in the process of containing Bangalore’s batsmen. AB de Villiers powered the RCB with a 33-ball-73 while the KKR could manage a mere 112 and for once were staring at becoming the first side to be bowled out in the IPL 2020.

The KKR think tank led by captain Dinesh Karthik and Brendon McCullum has not been able to think clearly on the role of players in the side. Earlier, Sunil Narine opened the batting with no good effect and the team held back a proven opener in Rahul Tripathi, at times playing him at 7 or 8. The team made a course correction and opened with Tripathi, but was dropped from the opening slot yet again after the Englishman Tom Banton was included in the squad. The team decided to tinker with a player who had shown signs of good form in Tripathi and again slotted him down the order at number 7 and he was of no use at that position.

The team was missing the services of Sunil Narine, the mystery bowler who once used to own the stage of the IPL and now the team will miss him as a player in the first place with him being put on notice for illegal action. Narine has not been at his best but has helped the side win two very close encounters by bowling economic overs in the back end and his absence hurt the side in the last game against the RCB.

On the contrary, the Mumbai Indians have to worry about other teams bouncing back to good form and it takes only a handful of matches to change the outlook of the points table. The good thing for the team is that captain Rohit Sharma is well aware of the other teams’ attempt to catch up and he has asked his team to refrain from being complacent. The core of Mumbai Indians is very experienced with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya have seen many moments of triumph in the IPL and they know enough about keeping things tight for not to slip away the momentum gained in the early phase of the tournament.

The team has looked indispensable with dominating batsmen at all the positions right from the top order to the lower-middle order. The batting has dominated almost every attack they have come up against and in the last match against the Delhi Capitals, the side showed it can raise their game even from the current standards when the situation demands and convincingly defeated the Shreyas Iyer’s Capitals.

On the bowling front, the trio of Trent Boult, James Pattinson, and Jasprit Bumrah has run circles around the batsmen in the ongoing season and it’s almost like they are saying if Boult does not get you, Pattinson will or if Bumrah does not get you, Boult will. Spinners Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya have chipped in brilliantly in the middle overs picking up crucial wickets and Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians look like a well-oiled machine running on a highway and beating every team that has come its way.

Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders: Match details

Match Number- 32

Date: 15th October 2020, at 7:30 PM IST

Venue: Abu Dhabi

Pitch and weather conditions

A new pitch will be used for the game between the Mumbai Indians and the Kolkata Knight Riders and new-ball bowlers on either side will look to make the most of the opportunity to move the new ball. The new ball has swung in Abu Dhabi and if there will be any chance of swing in the air on the night of the match, there is no one better than Trent Boult to find it and that will give the Mumbai an edge over the Kolkata Knight Riders that has shown signs of fragility at the top of the order.

Captain winning the toss may face the dilemma of chasing but so far teams have struggled to chase in the tournament and it might be a good toss to lose in Abu Dhabi on Friday night.

The weather will be on the cooler side with temperature in the sub 30 degrees range and the open stadium allowing the breeze to pass across it will make the conditions even more pleasant for the players in the field.

Team News

Mumbai Indians

Rohit Sharma and Mahela Jayawardene have shown the mettle of being a tough think tank and backing their players to the hilt and there is no plausible reason for the team to chase the playing XI from the one that fielded in the game against the Delhi Capitals.

Expected XI

Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, James Pattinson, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah

Kolkata Knight Riders

The KKR management has a lot to ponder upon the playing XI and they have their tasks cut out to field an eleven that can provide a balance to the side. The position the team finds itself in now, it can only go up and the team must find a way to back Kuldeep Yadav who has not been given enough chances this season. However, that seems unlikely looking at the way the KKR has managed the resources at their disposal.

Rahul Tripathi must be brought back to open the innings and if Tom Banton has to play at the top of the order, Shubman Gill will be shifted to the number 3 position, but that seems unlikely given McCullum's confidence in the young Indian.

Nitish Rana has not looked in his best touch and if the KKR decides to go aggressively like how it has been for McCullum in his playing days, Kuldeep Yadav may get a look in in the place of Nitish Rana with Gill slotting down to number three.

Expected XI

Tom Banton, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana/Kuldeep Yadav, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Andre Russell, Rahul Tripathi, Pat Cummins, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy

Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders: Dream11 team and suggestion

Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Eoin Morgan, Rahul Tripathi, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Kamlesh Nagarkoti

Captain: Rohit Sharma

Vice-captain: Eoin Morgan

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