The Mumbai Indians are off to a familiar start given their IPL history, with two defeats off their first two games, but now face an in-form Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their own den at the iconic Wankhede Stadium on Monday.
The Hardik Pandya-led side will be coming off a disappointing loss to Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday in Ahmedabad where their batting failed them again.
It was a repeat of their batting effort against the Chennai Super Kings in their opening game at the Chepauk and the biggest let-down has been the poor outing of both their openers and especially that of MI and India legend Rohit Sharma.
Rohit has scored just eight runs in two matches while Ryan Rickleton has struck 19 runs in the same number of matches to put pressure on the Mumbai Indians middle order.
Although, the middle order failed against CSK in Chennai, the performance against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad augurs well for MI with Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma roaring back to form.
Suryakumar’s whirlwind 48 off just 28 balls with one four and four sixes at a strike rate of 171 and Varma’s 39 came at a crucial stage for Mumbai and gave them a semblance of hope against GT before the lower middle order let them down with skipper Hardik Pandya not turning up when it really mattered.
In the bowling department, Trent Boult has been blow hot-blow cold conceding 34 runs in four overs at an economy of 8.5 with three fours and a six and picking up the huge wicket of GT opener Sai Sudharsan in the last game.
Deepak Chahar and Mujeeb Ur Rahman have been battered by the opposition with the former giving away 39 runs in four overs while the latter conceded 28 in just two overs at an economy of 14.
Pandya and Mitchell Santner bowled tight but could not stem the flow of runs much while Satyanarayana Raju was sent on a leather hunt as his three overs cost a whopping 40 runs with just a wicket. He conceded two fours and three maximums in the process as the Titans batters made merry at his expense.
KKR are coming off a morale-boosting victory against the Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati where Quinton De Kock got his mojo back with a sensational 97 off 61 balls blasting eight fours and six maximums as they cantered home chasing 152.
If De Kock’s marauding form has been their biggest takeaway from the previous game, then their bowling department working as a well-oiled machine will also lift their spirits as they take on Mumbai Indians at the raucous Wankhede.
The pacers Vaibhav Arora and Harshit Rana were among the wickets although they were a tad expensive. However, the spinners Moeen Ali and the mystery man Varun Chakravarthy have delivered the goods when it mattered with the latter plucking two important wickets of RR stand-in skipper Riyan Parag and all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga.
KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane would be eager to display his transformed avatar at the all-too familiar Wankhede considering his smashing innings of 56 off 31 balls at a strike rate of 180 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the tournament opener at the Eden Gardens on March 22.
