Battle of the big hitters as KKR takes on MI

Dinesh Karthik (left) and Rohit Sharma

Grace and strength will be on one side while poise and killer instinct on the other when a revamped Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) take on Mumbai Indians (MI), in their Indian Premier League (IPL) fixture in Abu Dhabi today.

Since 2013, MI have never won an opening game and the script didn’t change against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), who took control of the match during the last 10 overs of the first innings.

They will be keen to bounce back while KKR would look for a perfect beginning as it will be a battle between big hitters on both sides on a sluggish Abu Dhabi track.

It will be Shubman Gill’s third IPL, the one where he would like to own the stage with his languid grace and effortless hitting, which he is so capable of. He can hit sixes over extra cover with grace and caress the ball through covers too.

These are exactly the traits that made Rohit Sharma, the great whiteball exponent that he is. Seasoned Rohit versus young Shubman is one for the keeps and makes this battle enticing.
KKR has Eoin Morgan who could advice Dinesh Karthik on how to tackle tense moments.

Whether he would fit in among the four overseas players is the question as Knights have Sunil Narine, Tom Banton, Andre Russell and Pat Cummins, who could walk into any T20 
playing XI.

For Mumbai, it is important that Nathan Coulter-Nile, with more all-round T20 utility compared to Trent Boult, gets fit to add more balance.

The teams 

Kolkata Knight Riders (From): Dinesh Karthik (Captain), Eoin Morgan, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Rinku Singh, Shubman Gill, Siddhesh Lad, Ali Khan, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrior, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy, Andre Russell, Chris Green, M. Siddharth, Sunil Narine, Nikhil Naik and Tom Banton.

Mumbai Indians (From): Rohit Sharma (Captain), Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Chris Lynn, Dhawal Kulkarni, Digvijay Deshmukh, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, James Pattison, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mohsin Khan, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Prince Balwant Rai, Quinton De Kock, Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Tiwary, Sherfane Rutherford, Suryakumar Yadav and Trent Boult. 
(Agencies)