The Eoin Morgan-led Kolkata Knight Riders will square off against defending Mumbai Indians in match No 5 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. The knights will be high in confidence as they began their campaign with a terrific win against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday. However, they need to be cautious as they face a wounded Mumbai Indians who lost the season opener to RCB. KKR would definitely like to maintain the victory run against Rohit Sharma & Co for which they may go for a tactical change in the bowling department.
Here is our KKR Predicted XI against MI:
Nitish Rana: Rana played a fearless innings against Sunrisers Hyderabad in KKR’s previous encounter, scoring a 56-ball 80 and bagged the Man of the Match award. He will hold the responsibility of providing a solid start against Mumbai Indians.
Shubman Gill: KKR’s trusted opener – Shubman Gill didn’t fire the other day as he was dismissed early. He is in decent form currently and will be hungry to score in tonight’s clash.
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Rahul Tripathi: Tripathi has certainly proved that he deserves to be in KKR’s top-order. After having a decent IPL 2020, Tripathi began the new season with a blast. He was the second-highest score for KKR in the previous game and would look to continue the momentum against MI.
Dinesh Karthik: The way Karthik batted in the previous game against SRH, he surely deserves to be promoted up the order. Being at No 4 he can do what he is best at – smashing the bowlers all around the park.
Andre Russell: The Caribbean all-rounder contributed with the ball in the previous game but he needs to work on his batting. The fans would want him to go with all his guns blazing against the defending champions tonight.
Eoin Morgan: The captain had a hard-luck with the bat in the campaign opener but excelled in his leadership. He would look to replicate the form he showcased in the T20I series against India last month.
Shakib Al Hasan: Hasan is back and has made his presence felt already. He couldn’t do much with the bat the other day but contributed well with the ball and scalped a wicket as well.
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Harbhajan Singh: Harbhajan returned in action after 699 days on Sunday night and bowled just one over which was effective enough to put SRH under pressure. The fans would love to see him bowl a bit more as he faces his previous team tonight.
Pat Cummins: The Australia quick was the most economic bowler in the last game. He would look to get some wickets when he takes the field against MI tonight.
Kuldeep Yadav: The KKR think tank went with Varun Chakravarthy on Sunday but didn’t receive favourable results. The mystery spinner failed to pick any wicket and leaked runs at an economy of 9 runs per over. He is likely to get replaced by Kuldeep Yadav.
Prasidh Krishna: As expected, Prasidh did an excellent job with the ball and provided an early breakthrough by dismissing David Warner in his first over. He is one of the crucial cogs in the KKR XI who can turn the tables at any moment.
KKR Predicted XI vs Mumbai Indians: Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Eoin Morgan (c), Shakib Al Hasan, Pat Cummins, Harbhajan Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav
