Bruised Mumbai
look to bounce back quickly
Match facts
The irrepressible Brad Hogg will hope for another
good night © BCCI
The first two matches of IPL 2016 were won by similarly large margins -
nine wickets in hand and 30-odd balls to spare. The first game featured Mumbai
Indians, at the Wankhede Stadium. The second had Kolkata Knight Riders playing
at Eden Gardens. While Knight Riders found themselves on the right side of the
result, Mumbai suffered a shocker at home against newcomers Rising Pune
Supergiants.
Mumbai will take the field at Eden Gardens hoping to bounce back in a
hurry. They will want to break their recent habit of losing their first several
matches of the season; Mumbai lost their first four games last year, and their
first five in 2014 . After their horror show against Supergiants, they would
perhaps do best to hit the mental reset button and start afresh.
Knight Riders would be pretty pleased with the current state of affairs.
Their big win against Delhi Daredevils gave them a handy head-start on the net
run-rate front. An excellent all-round effort from their bowlers was followed
by a solid showing by their top three batsmen. Their strong spin-bowling
department is perfectly suited to the pitches on offer at Eden Gardens. Come
Wednesday, Knight Riders will be confident of improving their 5-11 record
against Mumbai.
In the spotlight
As an overseas spinner, Brad Hogg is in
direct competition with Sunil Narine for a spot in Knight Riders' best XI. With
Narine getting back to India only on Tuesday night, he is unlikely to play on
Wednesday, making Hogg a certain starter for the Mumbai game. If Hogg can
follow up his fine showing against Daredevils with more of the same against
Mumbai, Knight Riders may have to seriously consider accommodating both in the
team going forward.
Hardik Pandya's
stock has risen substantially over the past few months, as an India debut in
January was followed by some good performances in the Asia Cup and World T20.
However, he still has some distance to go if he is to prove his worth as a
genuine allrounder, as opposed to a bit-part player capable of flashes of
brilliance. After a tame performance in the IPL opener, he will want to make a
greater impact this time around.
Team news
Knight Riders have no compelling reason to change the XI that stormed to
victory against Daredevils.
Kolkata Knight Riders (probable): 1 Robin Uthappa (wk), 2 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 3
Manish Pandey, 4 Colin Munro, 5 Suryakumar Yadav, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Andre
Russell, 8 Piyush Chawla, 9 John Hastings, 10 Brad Hogg, 11 Umesh Yadav
Mumbai are unlikely to make knee-jerk changes, but, judging by their
practice session, Parthiv Patel may get a game. Vinay Kumar could be the one to
miss out, meaning a longer batting line-up at the expense of a bowler. Lendl
Simmons is likely to be rested for Corey Anderson, while Nitish Rana could also
make the final XI.
Mumbai Indians (probable):
1 Parthiv Patel, 2 Rohit Sharma (capt), 3 Lendl Simmons/Corey Anderson, 4 Jos
Buttler (wk), 5 Ambati Rayudu, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Kieron Pollard, 8 Shreyas
Gopal, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Mitchell McClenaghan, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
Pitch and conditions
Eden Gardens is likely to offer another spinner-friendly track to suit
Knight Riders' attack. It is a big ground by Indian standards, another factor
working in favour of spin. Dew is likely to come into play as the night wears
on, so fielding first would be the way to go.
Stats and trivia
Rohit Sharma scored 98* and 50 in his last two IPL innings at Eden
Gardens
KKR has lost just once in last 13 IPL games at Eden Gardens
Quotes
"We put pressure on each other with the ball.
It is a competitive and respectful competition between us."
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