Kolkata, Apr 24: Relegated to the bottom half after four defeats, defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders must raise their game as they face another struggling giant Mumbai Indians in second of their three back-to-back home fixtures in the sixth IPL here on Wednesday night (April 24).
Both the teams find themselves on the same side of the fence having lost their last two matches respectively. But a cracker of contest is on offer especially given that it would be Mumbai Indians` veteran Sachin Tendulkar's 40th birthday.
The most important batsman in the KKR line-up is their skipper Gautam Gambhir. More often than not, when the southpaw has scored runs his team has gone on to win. It will be interesting to see if KKR can make room for the dangerous Brendon McCullum or if they continue to persist with Yusuf Pathan at the top of the order.
In the Mumbai Indians line-up, all eyes will be on Sachin Tendulkar yet again. The master appeared to be in good touch in the previous match against DD and he will be keen to give his fans something special on his 40th birthday. The talented Rohit Sharma was in sublime touch in the previous match; he and Dinesh Karthik – MI’s top run-getter this season – are the two other important characters in the MI batting line-up.
On the slow and sluggish track at the Eden Gardens, the spin twins – Sunil Narine and Sachithra Senanayake – will be at the forefront of KKR’s bowling plans. Mumbai Indians meanwhile will rely on Lasith Malinga and Mitchell Johnson to do the bulk of the damage with the ball.
Kolkata Knight Riders will remain at home and host Kings XI Punjab on April 26. The Mumbai Indians meanwhile head back home to host the Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 27.
Squads
Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Yusuf Pathan, Jacques Kallis, Eoin Morgan, Manoj Tiwary, Debabrata Das (wk), Rajat Bhatia, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Sachithra Senanayake, Sunil Narine and Laxmipathy Balaji, Sarabjit Ladda, Brad Haddin, Iqbal Abdulla, Brett Lee, Brendon McCullum, Ryan McLaren, Pradeep Sangwan, Mohamamd Shami Ahmed, Manvinder Bisla and Ryan ten Doeschate.
Mumbai Indians: Ricky Ponting (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Dwayne Smith, Dinesh Karthik, Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Munaf Patel, Lasith Malinga, Abu Nechim, Akshar Patel, Aditya Tare, Aiden Blizzard, Amitoze Singh, Dhawal Kulkarni, Glenn Maxwell, Jacob Oram, Javed Khan, Jalaj Saxena, James Franklin, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Phil Hughes, Pawan Suyal, Pragyan Ojha, Rishi Dhawan, Suryakumar Yadav, Sushant Marathe and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Both the teams find themselves on the same side of the fence having lost their last two matches respectively. But a cracker of contest is on offer especially given that it would be Mumbai Indians` veteran Sachin Tendulkar's 40th birthday.
The most important batsman in the KKR line-up is their skipper Gautam Gambhir. More often than not, when the southpaw has scored runs his team has gone on to win. It will be interesting to see if KKR can make room for the dangerous Brendon McCullum or if they continue to persist with Yusuf Pathan at the top of the order.
In the Mumbai Indians line-up, all eyes will be on Sachin Tendulkar yet again. The master appeared to be in good touch in the previous match against DD and he will be keen to give his fans something special on his 40th birthday. The talented Rohit Sharma was in sublime touch in the previous match; he and Dinesh Karthik – MI’s top run-getter this season – are the two other important characters in the MI batting line-up.
On the slow and sluggish track at the Eden Gardens, the spin twins – Sunil Narine and Sachithra Senanayake – will be at the forefront of KKR’s bowling plans. Mumbai Indians meanwhile will rely on Lasith Malinga and Mitchell Johnson to do the bulk of the damage with the ball.
Kolkata Knight Riders will remain at home and host Kings XI Punjab on April 26. The Mumbai Indians meanwhile head back home to host the Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 27.
Squads
Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Yusuf Pathan, Jacques Kallis, Eoin Morgan, Manoj Tiwary, Debabrata Das (wk), Rajat Bhatia, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Sachithra Senanayake, Sunil Narine and Laxmipathy Balaji, Sarabjit Ladda, Brad Haddin, Iqbal Abdulla, Brett Lee, Brendon McCullum, Ryan McLaren, Pradeep Sangwan, Mohamamd Shami Ahmed, Manvinder Bisla and Ryan ten Doeschate.
Mumbai Indians: Ricky Ponting (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Dwayne Smith, Dinesh Karthik, Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Munaf Patel, Lasith Malinga, Abu Nechim, Akshar Patel, Aditya Tare, Aiden Blizzard, Amitoze Singh, Dhawal Kulkarni, Glenn Maxwell, Jacob Oram, Javed Khan, Jalaj Saxena, James Franklin, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Phil Hughes, Pawan Suyal, Pragyan Ojha, Rishi Dhawan, Suryakumar Yadav, Sushant Marathe and Yuzvendra Chahal.
