IPL 2020 Match Preview MI vs KKR: Can Kolkata stop Rohit Sharma and his Mumbai?

Rohit Sharma is from Mumbai and plays his entire cricket (from club cricket to Ranji trophy) for Mumbai. Representing and becoming the face of Mumbai Indians in the post-Sachin era in IPL is perhaps just a natural progression even though he played the first three seasons of IPL for Deccan Chargers.

However, the moment Rohit hears Kolkata on a cricket field, the batsman inside him becomes bigger. He started his Test cricket journey with a blistering 177 in Kolkata and averages over 70 there. In ODI cricket, Rohit’s journey of greatness began in Kolkata with his iconic 264 and his average is nearly double of his Test average in Kolkata (135.50).

Rohit has just played two T20 internationals without much success but you just mention Kolkata in his ears and he is again at his best. It doesn’t matter if a match is happening in Kolkata or Mumbai or UAE. The Mumbai skipper simply dreams of facing Kolkata Knight Riders’ attack everyday and why shouldn’t he?

No batsman in the IPL has scored 904 runs (at an average of 47.58 and a strike rate of 134.9) against one franchise. That makes Rohit’s one on one with KKR even more special. And, if KKR needed any reminders about this then Rohit had already served the notice earlier in the tournament when these two teams met and he scored 80 off just 54 balls. To even contemplate win, KKR captain Dinesh Karthik will have to think about getting Rohit back in the pavilion at earliest.

Overwhelming past and present

Unfortunately for KKR, it is just not Rohit which is looming large but the utter dominance of his team Mumbai Indians, too. No team apart from KKR has lost 20 defeats against one opponent in the history of IPL.

If KKR’s dubious record of (just six wins out of the 26 matches) against Mumbai wasn’t bad enough then only a solitary win in the last 11 matches simply speaks about KKR’s inability to stand up against the most successful side in the IPL. To reverse the trend against a team which is searching for its fifth straight win in this IPL, it won’t be easy for KKR at all.

“We got to make amends for our first game of the year, they beat us, didn’t play our best game. So, another great chance to test this against the group leaders,” said Australian pacer Pat Cummins on the eve of their match against Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi.

Unmatched confidence

Only a very confident team like Mumbai can afford to say that they may still persist with the fast bowling heavy combinations even if other teams are trying to bolster their attacks with more spin options.

“Overall as a coach I am happy but there are definitely areas we can improve and keep improving because the tournament is always going to get tougher and tougher at the backend,” said MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene ahead of the 32nd game of IPL 2020.

LIKELY XI Mumbai Indians: Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, James Pattinson, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah.

LIKELY XI Kolkata Knight Riders: Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy.

(Vimal Kumar has covered multiple cricket world cups and Rio Olympics in the last two decades. The author of Sachin: Cricketer Of The Century and The Cricket Fanatic’s Essential Guide can be reached @Vimalwa on Twitter)  

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